Star Trek: TOS: Shadow of the Machine by Scott Harrison

Author:Scott Harrison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Star Books

Chapter 6

IOWA

Kirk found Uncle Abner out by the farm’s westernmost boundaries, kneeling in front of the lightning shield’s substation, replacing broken circuits. The old man stopped as he approached, climbing to his feet and tugging off his hat. He waved it cheerfully in the air before wiping the sweat from his forehead and jamming it back down onto his head.

“Jimmy, my boy,” Abner called delightedly. “Hanna said you were on your way to see us today. Didn’t think we’d see you until much later, though.”

“It would seem that I’m not needed aboard my own ship,” Kirk said playfully. “That’s what you get for having the most efficient and dedicated chief engineer in the entire fleet.”

“Would that be the Scottish lad?” Abner asked.

Despite himself, Kirk let out a quick laugh. “I’d hardly call him a ‘lad.’ Although I’m sure he’d thank you kindly for the compliment.”

“You’d better watch out or he’ll be after stealing that captain’s chair right from under you,” Abner teased.

“Never,” Kirk said. “Scotty is only happy when he’s tinkering with his engines.”

“Tell you the truth, I could do with a fella like that right now. This baby has got me stumped, I won’t lie.” Abner pointed a spanner at the section of substation open in front of him.

Kirk bent forward, peering at the machine; he could feel his uncle studying him. When Kirk straightened up he knew what was coming.

“I hear you lost a couple of people during that V’Ger business.”

Kirk said nothing for a moment or two, then nodded. “My executive officer and navigator.”

“Must be hard, having them taken away like that. I take my hat off to Starfleet: I sure couldn’t handle responsibility like that,” Abner confessed.

“I’m just thankful we were able to stop it in time, otherwise things could have been a lot worse,” Kirk said.

Abner nodded in agreement. “D’you remember Andy Kinderman and his family? Used to live in that Victorian over in the next county? That was before they moved to that XJ340 planet, out by Campbell’s World.”

Kirk had not heard that name for years, not since before Sam had left for the Academy. They’d let Andy join in their game of explorers once or twice. Andy never wanted to be a human explorer, which was too boring, he’d declare. He’d always chosen to be the Vulcan xenobiologist S’alya.

“Andy Kinderman. Wasn’t he assigned to the Darwin as their chief biologist?” Kirk asked.

“Got himself reassigned once or twice since then. Last time was five months ago. Decided he was sick of being on a ship, disappearing for months on end. He wanted to be nearer to his family, or at least within shuttle distance.” Abner paused, and there was a genuine sadness in his eyes. “He thought he’d get himself posted to a monitoring station for a little while, nice change, regular shore leave. He told his dad that he wanted to spend more time with them, now that they were getting on in years. Died a week ago, along with the rest of the crew, on the Epsilon Nine station when that V’Ger decided to blow it out of existence.

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