STAR TREK - SCE - 34 - Collective Hindsight Bk 2

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Other eBooks in the Star Trek™:

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Pocket Books:

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#2:Fatal Error by Keith R.A. DeCandido

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#4:Interphase Book 1 by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

#5:Interphase Book 2 by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore

#6:Cold Fusion by Keith R.A. DeCandido

#7:Invincible Book 1 by David Mack & Keith R.A. DeCandido

#8:Invincible Book 2 by David Mack & Keith R.A. DeCandido

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#31:Ishtar Rising Book 2 by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels

#32:Buying Time by Robert Greenberger

#33:Collective Hindsight Book 1 by Aaron Rosenberg

#34:Collective Hindsight Book 2 by Aaron Rosenberg

Coming Soon:

#35:The Demon Book 1 by Loren L. Coleman & Randall N. Bills

#36:The Demon Book 2 by Loren L. Coleman & Randall N. Bills

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s

imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or

dead, is entirely coincidental.

AnOriginal Publication of POCKET BOOKS

POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon &

Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY

10020

STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of

Paramount Pictures.

This book is published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., under exclusive license

from Paramount Pictures.

For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 0-7434-8084-8

First Pocket Books Ebooks Edition November 2003

POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Visit us on the World Wide Web:

http://www.SimonSays.com/st

http://www.startrek.com

Chapter

Stardate 53852.1—First Officer’s Log, Commander Sonya Gomez,U.S.S. da Vinci.We have

encountered a ship known as the Dancing Star,an alien vessel that runs on solar radiation. During the

Dominion War, the ship entered the Randall system and suffered a catastrophic buildup of its engines.

Had the buildup run its course, it would have caused Randall’s sun to go nova. Rather than endanger

Federation outpost R5-3791, which was hidden in one of the system’s asteroids, the alien ship’s captain

contained the buildup within the vessel, instantly vaporizing the entire crew. Shortly afterward, the da

Vinciwas sent to investigate the ship. Commander Salek—my predecessor as first officer and head of the

S.C.E. team on the da Vinciunder Captain Gold—sacrificed his life in order to save the system from a

second catastrophic buildup, and also to keep the knowledge of both the Dancing Starand the outpost

from the enemy. After that, the S.C.E. piloted the ship into the sun, which should have destroyed it.

However, the vessel has turned up in interstellar space, over a hundred light-years from the Randall

system. Having familiarized ourselves with theda Vinci’s previous encounter with the Dancing Star,we are

now considering what to do next.

* * *

“Clearly, the situation was more than they could handle.”

Fabian Stevens glared at Tev across the table in theda Vinci ’s observation lounge, but the Tellarite

ignored him. Sonya Gomez couldn’t stop herself from sighing. The three of them sat along with Captain

Gold and P8 Blue, the former at the head of the table, the latter in her specially modified chair at the

other end.

“It’s not that simple, Tev,” she said, wondering if her second would ever learn. “The original team did a

fine job completing their mission, which was to remove theDancing Star before it endangered the outpost

or drew Cardassian attention to its system.”

“With all due respect, Commander, I disagree.” Tev always managed to make phrases like that

condescending, and to turn her title into an honorific rather than something she had earned. “They were

sent to analyze that vessel, determine its origins and nature, and render it harmless. The fact that it is here

now, hurtling rapidly toward a planet, proves they failed.”

“And I suppose you would have done better,” Fabian shot back.

“Of course, Specialist.”

“Well, now’s your chance to prove it.” Both of them stopped to look at her, which was something,

anyway. “The bottom line is that we need to figure this ship out, and fast. And since Salek apparently

missed something, we can’t just rely upon his observations.”

“He did figure out how the ship worked,” Pattie offered, and Sonya nodded.

“At least well enough to get it operational, and to vent its fuel cells, yes. But he must have missed

something. That doesn’t mean he did a bad job—he didn’t have a lot of time to study the ship fully. But

we don’t have to worry about giving away someone’s position, and we don’t have the distractions of a

major interstellar war. Our job is to stop this ship completely, once and for all.”

Gold leaned forward. “So how do you plan to do that, Gomez?”

“I’m not sure yet, sir. But I think, to start with, that we need a fresh look at this ship. Tev and I are the

only two who weren’t on the team the first time around, so we’re going to beam over. I want to examine

it fully, and build our own theories, based only upon what we find. We can compare that to Salek’s data

later.” She glanced at the rest of her team. “While we’re doing that, I want the three of you to go back

over the original material. Look for anything you might have missed the first time, about where this ship

came from and how it works. Find out why it was out here, who the captain was—anything you didn’t

feel was crucial to the mission then. Any bit of information could be the key we need.”

Gold nodded. “Fresh perspectives, and a resifting of old material. Sounds like a plan. We should be

within transporter range now.”

“Pattie, how much time do we have before the ship hits something?”

The Nasat checked her padd. “Twenty-three hours, Commander. Then it slams into Riallon IX, which

has a population of twenty-one million.”

“Right. So we have twenty-two hours to figure this thing out and shut it down.” She stood up. “Let’s get

to work. Tev, you’re with me.”

* * *

“I just don’t like him,” Fabian groused as he and Pattie headed back to engineering. “Sure, he’s smart,

but he acts like he’s the only one with any brains, and the rest of us are all morons.”

“He does have an ego, but that’s mainly because he won’t lie or conceal anything, including his pride in

his own abilities.” Pattie’s antennae wobbled in the equivalent of a shrug. “If we put aside our modesty

and talked about how good we really were at our jobs, don’t you think everyone would call us arrogant

too?”

“Maybe,” he admitted as they passed through the door. “But it’s not just that he thinks he’s so good. It’s

that he thinks the rest of us suck. I know I’m good, but I know you and Commander Gomez and

Soloman and Bart and Carol are too, and I’d never put you guys down or claim you were incompetent.”

Pattie made a tinkling noise that was her equivalent of laughter. “Gee, thanks.”

“No, I mean it. We’re a team, right? And Tev isn’t part of that, because he doesn’t want to be. He’s not

willing to work with anybody else, because he’s convinced that he’s better than the rest of us and that we

only slow him down.”

“Well then, be glad that the commander is the one working with him, and not us.”

He chuckled. “Oh, believe me, I am.”

* * *

“It is unnecessary for both of us to do this, Commander.” Tev’s voice sounded in Sonya’s ear as the

pair of them, clad in space suits, started walking through theDancing Star ’s corridors. “I can analyze this

ship while you attend to other matters on theda Vinci. ”

Sonya glanced over at him, saw her own helmeted face reflected in his faceplate. “I appreciate your

confidence, Tev, but I disagree. You and I have different approaches, which means two different

perspectives. I’d hate to think that we’d missed something here, and jeopardized our mission, because

we were relying on a single viewpoint with all of its limitations and biases.”

Her second drew himself up to his full height and thrust out his chin, which had the unfortunate result of

making his beard jut out against his faceplate like a stiff brush. “I do not miss anything, Commander, and

I resent the suggestion.”

“Do you?” She resisted the urge to snap back at him, but also refused to coddle his ego any longer.

Enough was enough. “Fine, then. Tell me what you see here.” She waved her hand, and they both

glanced along the hallway.

“A single corridor,” her second replied immediately. “Cylindrical, though flattened at the bottom for

easier passage. Indirect lighting. Doors spaced along each side, inset and with manual releases.

Temperature of fifty degrees Celsius. No atmosphere.”

She nodded. “And what does all that tell you?”

“Clearly this is the main corridor. The atmosphere has never been restored after it was ignited at Randall

V, which indicates that the computers are either not fully operational or not programmed to provide air

automatically.” He glanced back at her.

“And?”

The hint of a frown appeared. “And? There is nothing else to be gained thus far.”

“Not true, Tev. For example, you noted that the doors have manual releases. Judging from their shape,

the crew must have hands and fingers like ours.”

He sniffed. “We know they did. The autopsy reports—”

“But I didn’t ask you what we knew from other data. I asked what we knew from what we could see

right now. That’s why we’re doing this. Ignore everything you knew about this ship before we beamed

aboard.” She ran one hand along the wall. “This isn’t metal, though it feels metallic. Looks more like

ceramic, which would fit with the heightened temperature. Good heat resistance. The lights are actually

tiny bulbs along a shelf just below the ceiling, with a lip that hides them but lets their light shine out.

There’s no carpeting—the floors are the same material as the walls and ceiling—and no decoration. This

wasn’t a luxury ship, or even a home. More like a science vessel or a military ship. Nothing here that

wouldn’t be useful. No time or energy for frivolities.” She met his gaze and held it, and after a moment he

shrugged.

“Point taken, Commander. Two views are more effective than one.” For the first time since she’d met

him, he said her title with a hint of respect, and she nodded back.

“Right. So let’s get back to our viewing, shall we?”

Chapter

When the call came, Overseer Caldon was in his quarters. The message was patched through to him

despite his orders to hold all messages while he slept, which meant that it must be important. The crew

knew better than to disobey him without good reason.

The minute he heard the caller’s voice, Caldon admitted that the crew’s actions had been correct. He

would discipline them for disobeying him, of course, but the punishment for withholding this call would

have been far worse.

“I have a commission for you,”his sponsor informed him.

“Of course, sir—I am at your disposal.”

“Sensors in Quadrant Ten-Fifteen, Space Nine-Beta have detected a ship. Its configuration is unknown,

though it is large—nearly of a size with your own vessel. I wish to obtain it.”

Caldon’s mind was already considering the problem. “Have other ships been sighted in that area?”

“Not recently, but Federation ships have been known to pass through there.”

“Of course.” He stood, knowing his sponsor could not see the movement. “I will depart at once.” He

hesitated—should he mention it, or wait for his sponsor to do so? The former could be considered

presumptuous.

“Excellent.”After a brief pause, his sponsor spoke again.“You will, of course, be compensated at your

usual rates, plus a bonus for a speedy resolution.”

Ah. He had been right to wait. “Thank you, sir.” The call ended, and Overseer Caldon headed toward

the bridge, to inform his crew of their new mission. And to punish them for disturbing his rest.

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