Star Trek Voyager: Starfleet Academy #2: The Chance Factor by Diana G Gallagher & Martin R Burke

Author:Diana G Gallagher & Martin R Burke [Gallagher, Diana G and Burke, Martin R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0-671-00732-7
Publisher: Minstrel Books
Published: 1997-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

The serpent sniffed the rich soil with her center head, froze, then snatched a burrowing beetle into her mouth with her tongue. The other two heads calmly continued to scan the strange surroundings. Jon laughed and relaxed.

Even Endar looked pleased with the wild beauty of Diehr IV. The t’stayan and the hook spider remained calm in the unfamiliar environment, and Kathryn wondered if the Talarian homeworld was similar. She would have asked, but she didn’t want Endar to accuse her of fishing for sensitive information again. Since he was using the mission to spy on the Federation, he assumed the Federation members of the team were gathering intelligence on his world, too.

T’Lor only glanced around with mild curiosity. Choka, the sehlat, immediately began to walk the perimeter of the clearing, checking for unseen dangers. The camel-like Shammi snapped her head up and tensed. The zabathu’s ears flicked toward the sound of the stream, and a nervous twitch rippled down her skin.

“Easy, Shammi.” T’Lor soothed the zabathu. “She’s from a desert planet. Maybe running water upsets her.”

“She’ll have to get used to it,” Thorn growled. He tapped the map he had unfolded and placed on a large rock. “The shortest route to the ceremonial cliff follows the river through a canyon to the west.”

T’Lor frowned.

“Rayonica likes water,” Jon said.

Kathryn dropped Tango’s reins and went to peer over Thorn’s shoulder. The horse had been trained to ground-tie and would not move until she told him to. Although they had been thoroughly briefed about the terrain, the weather, and the wildlife on the planet, the route had not been decided prior to landing as part of the exercise.

“If we go that way, Thorn, we’ll have to climb the steep side of the mountain to reach the probe.” Kathryn stabbed her finger at the elevation on the map. She did not want to point out that the Andorian zabathu might not be willing or able to navigate a river route.

“No problem.” Endar patted the six-legged t’stayan’s neck. “Ginjar can climb anything.”

“But the other animals can’t,” Kathryn countered.

“We have to choose a path that’s passable for everyone. One that exposes us to the least amount of danger.”

“You don’t have to worry, human,” Thorn rumbled. “If you are in danger, Captain Holbrook will beam you out before you get hurt.”

“I have no intention of being beamed out until the mission is completed, Thorn.” Kathryn stiffened. “And I don’t think you understand what Captain Holbrook meant.”

“What did he mean?” Endar asked suspiciously.

“If we run into trouble, we’ll all be transported back to the ship. This isn’t a contest. It’s a mission. Either the whole team makes it—or none of us do.”

Thorn scowled. “If this were a Klingon mission, the only objective would be getting the probe out. It would not matter how many were lost along the way as long as one succeeded in the end.”

“This is not a Klingon mission.” T’Lor eyed Thorn levelly and pressed closer to the zabathu. “No one is expendable.”

Although she wouldn’t say so, the Vulcan did not want any harm to come to Shammi, Kathryn realized.

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