Turning from the window, Reyes regarded the brawny, imposing officer, whose layered muscles seemed perpetually ready to rip the seams of his red Starfleet uniform tunic. Though Reyes himself was no small man, even his broad-shouldered physique was no match for the two-time Starfleet weight-lifting champion. “Feeling a bit nostalgic, Lieutenant?” he asked with a slight grin.
Farber shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, Commodore.” Lifting his chin as a means of indicating the direction of the Lovell,he said, “She may not be much to look at, but she’s got a heart of cast rodinium. She’s made it through some tough scrapes, and that’s just while she’s been a Corps of Engineers ship. Say what you will about her, but they don’t make ships like that anymore.”
“Thank God,” Cooper said, though he too was smiling, reassuring the lieutenant that he spoke in jest.
Formerly assigned to the Lovell,Farber had come to Vanguard during the ship’s first visit to the station, a few months earlier, when the vessel’s accomplished—if unpolished and unorthodox—complement of engineering specialists had assisted in finalizing the station’s readiness for full operation. So enamored was the lieutenant with the facility and its state-of-the-art technology, not to mention its mission of support for Federation expansion into the Taurus Reach, that he had applied for a transfer. Likewise impressed with the role Farber had played in solving the mystery behind the station’s difficulties, a concession of which was the tragic loss of the station’s previous chief engineer, Reyes and the Lovell’s captain, Daniel Okagawa, had agreed to the request, resulting in Farber’s eventual assignment as Vanguard’s senior engineering officer.
“If you’re really that heartsick, Mr. Farber,” Reyes said, “I can have you back aboard before her engines cool down.”
Chuckling, Farber shook his head. “That won’t be necessary, sir. I’m quite happy here on Vanguard.”
“Glad to hear it,” Reyes said. “Of course, if you’re going to change your mind, I’d suggest you not waste a lot of time doing it. The Lovellwon’t be here that long.”
Making an exaggerated and still joking show of rolling his eyes, Cooper added, “One can only hope.” To Reyes he said, “Any word from Starfleet on a permanent replacement for the Bombay,Commodore?”
Reyes shrugged. “The fleet’s spread pretty thin right now. Along with the new exploration push, there’ve also been reports of increased activity along the Klingon border. Starfleet Intelligence thinks they may be planning some kind of big offensive.”
Given the demands—both scientific and military—currently placed on Starfleet’s resources, the result was a shortage of vessels that met the specific needs of Vanguard and its mission. According to the last report Reyes had received, it would be a minimum of two months before another Miranda-class starship or something in the same capability range could be assigned permanently to the station.
“Of all the ships Starfleet could have sent us,” Cooper said, “they decided on a boatload of engineers.” The exec shook his head. “Far be it from me to question the wisdom of my superiors, but what the hell were they thinking?”
Reyes allowed the comment. After all, there was no way for the commander to know the real reasons for choosing the Lovellas a substitute vessel to support Vanguard. Considering the nature of the station’s true mission, security was of paramount importance. Even though the crews of the base’s other tenant vessels, the Endeavourand the Sagittarius,were oblivious of the mystery surrounding the Taurus Reach, they knew enough to be able to carry out their duties without the need to ask questions that—for the time being, at least—lacked answers. Such would have to be the case with any new vessel brought in to support the station. Starfleet had provided the commodore with a short list of ships that were available on an interim basis, none of which had impressed him in the slightest.
Faced with that dilemma, Reyes instead had opted to go another route.
“They kill two birds with one stone,” he said. “The Lovellhas adequate cargo storage space, even if it’s less than a Miranda,and its crew has tweaked and bribed its warp engines so much that it actually makes better speed than a ship half its age.” He said that last part while casting a respectful nod to Farber. “Add to that the fact that their engineers are already familiar with our systems. The lieutenant here will have more help than he can handle for a month or two. By the time they’re finished, this place’ll probably have its own warp drive. At the very least, the food slot in my office won’t give me any more trouble.”
Of course, Reyes’s true motivation for selecting the Lovellwas far simpler. While his assessment of the ship’s capabilities was accurate, there was also the matter of its crew’s awareness—albeit in an abstract sense—of the anomaly which had caused the station’s rash of malfunctions prior to becoming operational. The commodore would be able to assign the vessel to investigate anything related to that still-unexplained carrier wave with the comfort that the Lovell’s crew would have at least some of the necessary perspective to make their efforts worthwhile to the overall exploration of the Taurus Reach, all while presenting a minimum risk to operational security.
Now that things had become even more complicated with the loss of Zhao Sheng, Reyes needed another shipmaster that he could trust implicitly, particularly in light of some of the decisions he was about to make.
For the moment, that person—whether or not he wanted that responsibility—was Captain Daniel Okagawa.
I wonder what he’ll have to say about that?
“With all due respect, sir,” the Lovell’s captain said as he stood next to Reyes outside the Vault, which they had just exited, “what the hell am I doing here?”
Compared with the commodore, Okagawa was a small man. Still, he possessed a stocky, toned physique, the set of his shoulders and their proportion to his waist suggesting that the captain’s preferred method of exercise might be swimming or perhaps gymnastics. Though he was comparable in age to Reyes, his close-cropped black hair featured a liberal peppering of pale gray, which when coupled with the wrinkles around his eyes and across his forehead only served to enhance his air of dignity and grace.
Reyes offered the captain a tired smile. Not exactly what I was expecting, but close enough. He said nothing as the section of bulkhead slid back into place, concealing the innocuous pair of red doors and the room behind them and restoring the otherwise nondescript office—located in the depths of the station’s cargo decks—to an illusion of normalcy. Once more, the Vault and its reclusive denizens were tucked away, safe from any prying eyes.
“I’ll be honest with you, Dan,” Reyes said as he took a seat behind the empty gray desk that was the office’s most prominent piece of furniture. He gestured for Okagawa to take the room’s only other chair. “You weren’t my first choice. I know your crew isn’t suited for this kind of thing, but if I have to bring a vessel in here temporarily for some of the things I need done, I wanted someone who already has an idea of what the hell’s going on out here.”
After detailing Farber to get with the Lovell’s chief engineer and ensure that any supply or maintenance requisitions and wish lists were filled in order to have the ship ready for departure within seventy-two hours, and having Cooper coordinate with its first officer to handle any outstanding personnel issues regarding the vessel’s assignment to the station, Reyes was left only with the duty of briefing Okagawa about the role of his ship and crew with respect to Vanguard’s mission. While the captain had accepted the need for the range of duties for which the Lovellwould be responsible during its short-term tenure with the station, it was the additional, covert tasks with which the captain had understandably taken issue.