STAR TREK - SCE - 06 - Cold Fusion

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Star Trek S.C.E. 6

Cold Fusion

by Keith R.A. DeCandido

approx. 19,600 words

Keith R.A. DeCandido

PO Box 4976

New York, NY 10185-4976

keith@decandido.net

www.decandido.net

HISTORIAN'S NOTE

Cold Fusion takes place between the Star Trek Deep Space Nine novels Avatar Book 2 and Section 31

Abyss. It also takes place simultaneously with Star Trek S.C.E. 7-8 Invincible Books 1-2.

ONE

"Commander, I humbly request permission to feed Abramowitz to the larva."

Kieran Duffy sighed, rolled his eyes, took a sip of his coffee, then looked up at the Nasat standing before

him in the mess hall. "What is it this time, Pattie?"

P8 Blue, presently standing upright on her two rear legs, was tossing a padd back and forth among four

of her arms. "Oh, it's nothing different. She simply will not stop playing that music."

"Have you asked her to stop?"

"Repeatedly. Endlessly. Constantly."

"Well, at least your grasp of adverbs is improving."

"Commander-"

Holding up a hand, Duffy said, "Look, I'll talk to her, okay? I have to be on the bridge in five, and-"

"That's the other thing, we're always on and off duty at the same time. I cannot avoid her. I would like to

renew my request for a new roommate."

"I've asked around, but nobody-"

"Of course nobody wants to room with her!" Pattie said. Her voice raised several octaves-a range Duffy

hadn't known her to be capable of-and she was now tossing the padd around so fast, it was blurry.

"Nobody can stand that music of hers!"

Sonnie, come home, was all Duffy could think. Especially since this was mostly her fault. Kind of.

In addition to her duties as commanding officer of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers team on the U.S.S. da

Vinci, Commander Sonya Gomez was also the da Vinci's first officer, and was therefore responsible for

making up the duty assignments. Of course, the last time she'd done so was before Carol Abramowitz,

the S.C.E. team's cultural specialist, got her hands on a new recording of Sinnravian drad music,

specifically the newest from Blee Luu, the founder of drad's "atonal minimalist" subgenre.

Unfortunately, Gomez was presently on a special assignment to the very distant planet of Sarindar,

helping the Nalori Republic get a subspace accelerator working. This left Duffy, normally the ship's

second officer, pulling double duty as the ship's XO. Which meant that personnel issues like this, that he

had been more than happy to dump on Sonnie's lap, were now his problem.

In all his years in Starfleet, Kieran Duffy had heard many different types of music, and many more

reactions to same. He'd heard Klingon opera that could put a spring in one person's step and stop others

dead in their tracks from the headache. He'd once seen a Vulcan ambassador moved to tears by the

same Mozart piece that, years later, moved a Tellarite engineer to throw up.

But pretty much everyone who wasn't from Sinnrav (and many who were) found Luu's music to be

completely unlistenable-except for Carol Abramowitz.

Gulping down the last of his coffee, Duffy got up. After swallowing, he said, "Pattie, I'm not really sure

what I can do, except-"

Except maybe change the duty roster, he thought suddenly. You're first officer until Sonnie comes back.

You can do that.

"Except maybe change the duty roster," he said after his moment of clarity. "I'll fix it so that you're on

Gamma Shift when Carol's off. Okay?"

Now holding the padd in only one hand, Pattie made a tinkling noise. Most non-Nasats couldn't

distinguish one such noise from another, but Duffy had been serving with Pattie long enough to be able to

do so. This one-high-pitched, with the higher notes about a second-and-a-half apart-was the equivalent

of a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. And no feeding her to the larva." Duffy hesitated. "Do your larva really eat people?"

Another tinkly noise, this one lower-pitched-a shrug. "Only when they can get them. They'll eat anything.

Well, I must take this report to Lieutenant Barnak. Thank you again, sir."

With that, Pattie got down on all eights and skittered out of the mess hall. Duffy wondered how much of

Carol's insistence on playing Luu's music was personal preference, and how much was a defense

mechanism triggered by living with an insect.

Two security guards, Drew and Hawkins, were sitting at one of the far tables. Hawkins said, "I think she

was kidding, sir. About the larva."

"Definitely," Drew said. "They're actually very picky eaters."

Sighing and shaking his head, Duffy left the mess hall, wondering if Sonnie had ever had to put up with

this.

TWO

David Gold had been listening to the latest letter from his granddaughter Ruth for the fifteenth time when

the call from the bridge came.

"Message from Deep Space 9, sir," said Lieutenant McAllan.

Gold frowned. They were en route to DS9 already. "On screen."

Ruth's pretty, glowing face was replaced on the viewscreen in Gold's quarters by the Starfleet logo, and

then by the image of a woman wearing the uniform of a Bajoran Militia colonel. Though he had never met

her, Gold instantly recognized her as DS9s commanding officer, Kira Nerys.

"Colonel Kira, he said. This is Captain Gold. Is everything all right?

Hello Captain. Yes, everythings fine. Dont worry, this is a simple diversion call.

"So the last dispatch we got was accurate? Those Jem'Hadar that attacked the station were renegades?"

For some time, the whole quadrant was on yellow alert and many were convinced that the Dominion

War, over for less than four months, was going to start right back up again. Gold was worried that this

call was going to be bad news-unexpected calls from high-ranking officers almost always were.

Yes, the dispatch was accurate. Unfortunately, part of the process of stopping them involved ejecting our

fusion core.

"Oy."

Kira looked almost amused. "Oy pretty much sums it up, Captain. We still need your help putting the

station back together, just not here at the station. You're to rendezvous with one of our runabouts, the

Rio Grande, in the Trivas system. We're forwarding the exact coordinates to you now, along with the

details. You'll meet up with Lieutenant Nog, our chief operations officer."

Gold recalled that the Trivas system was in unclaimed space near the Cardassian border. "And this is

going to help the station?"

"Let's hope so. We need to get this place operational before we run out of emergency power. The

lieutenant will have all the details."

Whatever you say, Colonel. Were happy to be of service however you need us.

At that, Kira actually smiled, though it didnt extend to her entire face. This is a woman under a lot of

pressure, Gold thought, being all-too-familiar with that look from his own years in the center seat.

Actually, Captain, the S.C.E. has already been a great help to us. And, honestly, if you could accompany

the Rio Grande back to DS9, we could probably use some more of that service.

That should be do-able, Colonel. Ive heard a lot of good things about your station-in fact, one of my

engineers used to serve there. Itll be a privilege to visit-and to help out.

The privilege will be all ours, Captain. And I wouldnt worry about the mission, either. Nogs a pro. Im

sure itll all go completely smoothly.

THREE

Fabian Stevens stared at the sleeping form of Domenica Corsi in the bed with him, wondering how,

exactly, this had happened. He had gone into the mess hall when he had come off shift the night before,

figuring to do a little reading over a synthale before going to bed. To his surprise, Lt. Commander Corsi

had been there. It was the first time Stevens could ever remember seeing the da Vinci's chief of security

in the mess hall. She generally preferred to eat in her quarters. Even more surprising was her request for

him to join her. He'd conversed with her while off duty about as often as he'd seen her in the mess hall,

and yet here she was inviting him over.

Intrigued by the novelty as much as anything, he had agreed.

"Senior staff and S.C.E. team, report to the observation lounge immediately."

It was Lieutenant McAllan's voice, and the beep that had preceded it had an immediate effect. In repose,

Corsi's features were unusually soft-like a porcelain doll sitting under lights in a glass case. The effect was

magnified by her blonde hair, normally tied severely back, cascading loosely about the pillow.

As soon as the beep sounded, though, the hard edges returned, and the porcelain became duranium as

she awakened.

"Let's go," she said, getting up from the bed without hesitating. She went from dead asleep to wide

awake in less than a second, an ability that Fabian Stevens envied, to say the least.

The previous night, Corsi had moved toward the bed with a lithe elegance and softness that Stevens

would not have previously credited her with. Now, though, the word soft was the last word he'd use to

describe how she moved away from it.

Efficient, though, that he'd use. Though he'd been awake for almost half an hour, it took Stevens several

seconds to drag himself out of bed, grab the various parts of his uniform (he hadn't really been paying

attention to where he'd dropped them last night), and put them on. By the time Corsi was in uniform and

had tied her hair neatly back, Stevens was still struggling with his pants.

"Mr. Stevens," she said formally, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak of this to anyone, and I hope you

won't think that it was the beginning of anything."

Stevens let out a bark of laughter. "To be honest, I hadn't thought that far ahead. I just-"

"I appreciate what you did," she said, still talking like an officer, which Stevens supposed was inevitable,

"and I am grateful, but I'm not in the habit-"

Holding up a hand, Stevens said, "Say no more, Commander. This stays between us."

"Good. I'm going to go ahead to the meeting. I'll see you there."

She tur ned on her heel and left. Stevens watched the door for several seconds before finally

commencing to putting on his shirt.

When he arrived at the observation lounge, most of the usual suspects were seated. Captain Gold was at

the head, of course, with Duffy at his left. Duff was holding a mostly full cup of quinine water in his hand,

so he'd already had his morning coffee. Soloman, Corsi, and Dr. Lense sat next to him-Corsi seemed to

be pointedly not making eye contact with Stevens as he entered.

Pattie Blue was in her special chair opposite the captain. Abramowitz was, Stevens noticed, sitting next

to Gold on his right, which put her as far from Pattie as possible. Guess the drad music battles haven't

concluded yet, he thought with a smile. Of course, Abramowitz could only sit there because Gomez-the

one missing S.C.E. member-was still off-ship.

Faulwell was seated next to Abramowitz, which left two chairs free-one opposite Lense, one opposite

Corsi. Deciding that discretion was the best he could do, Stevens sat opposite Lense. Corsi didn't seem

to notice.

"Now that Stevens has deigned to join us," Gold said dryly, "here's the story. We're not going to Deep

Space 9 to help them with repairs, though we are going to their aid. We've been diverted to rendezvous

with one of their runabouts and then proceed to an abandoned Cardassian station in the Trivas system

known as Empok Nor."

Stevens muttered, "Quoth the Empok, 'Never Nor.'"

"Excuse me?" Gold said, one of his bushy eyebrows raised.

Shifting in his seat, Stevens said, "Sorry, sir. That's something one of the engineers at DS9 came up with

after the first time we- Well, see, when I was assigned to DS9, our chief of operations, Miles O'Brien,

went over there to get some spare parts. Unfortunately, half the team didn't make it back-there was some

kind of Cardassian booby trap left behind. We never really wanted to go back after that, and one of the

engineers was a fan of old poetry, so she made that joke. It kinda stuck."

"Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven," Abramowitz said helpfully. "The line is really 'Quoth the raven,

"Nevermore".'"

Nodding, Gold said, "Well, these ravens are flying back. DS9 had to eject their fusion core, and their

new chief of operations-a lieutenant named Nog-is meeting us in the Trivas system in order to obtain a

replacement."

Stevens looked up in surprise at that. "Nog's chief now?"

"You know him?" Gold asked.

"Yeah, he was a cadet when I was there. In fact, come to think of it, he was part of the team that went to

Empok Nor."

With a small smile, Duffy said, "Obviously he was one of the ones who survived."

"Good guess," Stevens said, also smiling. "He's a lieutenant now?"

"That's what the mission profile says," Duffy said, punching up a display. It showed the familiar features of

the nervous young Ferengi Stevens remembered, but now wearing a junior-grade lieutenant's uniform.

First Corsi and I wind up in bed together, then I find out that Nog's got a commission and is doing the

chief's job. This is a very weird day.

"The plan," Duffy continued, "is to detach the fusion core and bring it back to DS9."

"The whole core?" Stevens asked.

"Yup. Apparently they had to eject it during that little brouhaha with the Jem'Hadar."

Stevens started scratching his chin. "Geez, the emergency power wouldn't last five minutes-we'd have to

link together a bunch of emergency generators, maybe six or seven to get them running."

"Way ahead of you, Stevens," Gold said with that avuncular smile of his that meant he was being

indulgent of the silly engineers and their endless ramblings. "They don't need our help with that-there's

already a passel of S.C.E. folks on-station. What they do need help with is getting Empok Nor's fusion

core from Trivas to DS9."

Faulwell spoke up. "Are we sure there's anything there to take? I mean, if the station's just sitting there"

Duffy shrugged. "The lieutenant seemed to think there was."

"Uh, sir?" Corsi said as she stared down at a padd. "I'm looking over the records of the station right now.

From the looks of it, it's a security nightmare."

"Oh, c'mon, Corsi," Duffy said with an incredulous look. "The station's in the middle of nowhere. The

Cardassians didn't just abandon the station, they abandoned that whole star system-and it's still

unclaimed. It's got to be the least strategically valuable piece of real estate in the sector."

"Maybe, but besides the mission Stevens mentioned, there've been a bunch of incidents on the station.

It's been used as a 'neutral territory' meeting place on more than one occasion, and a group of Bajoran

cultists used it as their base of operations last year. Last reports do have it being abandoned, though."

"So what's the problem?" Duffy asked.

Corsi finally looked up from her padd and fixed Duffy with a withering look. Stevens found he couldn't

help but contrast it with the expression on her face not fifteen minutes earlier when she was asleep. "The

problem is that anybody can just waltz in. The station has no defenses worth mentioning, but plenty of

equipment that might attract salvagers. I can easily see Ferengi, Yridians, Orion, or Cardassian

pirates-not to mention someone like the Androssi-gutting the place. We need to be on alert for anything.

Whatever or whoever you send over there, I want a security detail of at least five."

Duffy nodded. "Fine." He looked around the table. "This is a straight-up nuts-and-bolts operation, so it'll

be me, Stevens, Blue, and Soloman. Fabe, you'll be especially useful, since your time on DS9 means you

actually know these systems."

"Well, mostly," Stevens said. "I mean, I spent most of my time on the Defiant, and the station had been

pretty thoroughly modified by the time I got there. Empok Nor's still pure Cardassian. I'm not saying I

can't do anything, but I don't want anyone getting raised expectations or anything."

Smiling Duffy said, "Don't worry about it, Fabe-we always have low expectations for you."

A chuckle passed around the table. "Gee thanks," Stevens said sardonically, and he considered throwing

something at the second officer.

"Anyhow," Duffy said, turning back to Corsi, "counting this Nog guy, that's five-one security guard for

each of us."

"We may want to double the security detail." Corsi's lips were pursed.

Duffy frowned. "We've already got a ten-person away team, Commander. I think making it fifteen is

excessive."

"I don't. Those cultists I mentioned? I just noticed who led them." She held up her padd, the display of

which now showed a familiar Cardassian face. "Dukat. You remember, the guy who brought the

Dominion to this quadrant in the first place? And before that, the station's crawled with Jem'Hadar,

Vorta, Ferengi-not to mention that mission that Fabe mentioned with the Cardassian booby trap."

Stevens looked up sharply. She called me "Fabe." While on duty. In a meeting, for crying out loud. What

the hell-?

If Corsi or anyone else noticed the slip, they didn't show it.

"A ten-person team is enough," Duffy said.

"Good," Gold said, cutting Corsi's protest off. "We're set to rendezvous with the Rio Grande at 0830.

Make sure the team's ready, Commander."

Duffy got up. "Yes, sir."

A buzz started to sound in the room as people got up from their chairs. Corsi, Stevens noticed, shot a

venomous look at Duffy before turning and leaving the observation lounge. Pattie also didn't get up from

her chair until after Abramowitz had left the room. Stevens went to the replicator and got himself a cup of

coffee. By the time it materialized, only he and Bart Faulwell were left in the lounge.

"So," Bart said, "when did this thing between you and Corsi develop?"

Stevens sputtered his coffee.

Chuckling, Bart said, "Computer, napkin." One materialized in the replicator, and Stevens snatched it and

wiped the stains off his uniform jacket.

"How the hell did you-?"

"Deductive reasoning," Bart said with a grin. "You two were the last ones in, you spent the entire meeting

pointedly not looking at each other, and you didn't actually come back to our cabin last night."

Trying to sound dismissive, Stevens said, "That's it?"

"Plus, she called you 'Fabe' during the meeting. That pretty much clinched it for me."

Stevens sighed. I suppose if anyone was going to catch that, it'd be the linguist. "Look, Bart, this can't get

out. We-"

"Easy," Bart said, holding up a hand. "The only reason I figured it out is because I know you didn't come

home last night. If you two want to have an affair and keep it secret-"

"Hell, it isn't even an affair. Just a one-nighter, really. And I still haven't got the first clue as to what

brought it on."

"What happened?"

Stevens told Bart about seeing her uncharacteristic appearance in the mess hall and her equally

uncharacteristic invitation to join him. "We talked for hours. She moved around a lot when she was a

kid-her family lived on about twelve different planets. That got me going about planet-hopping around the

Rigel colonies with my parents' shuttle service. Then it was Starfleet stories."

He took a sip of coffee, managing to actually swallow it this time, and then continued. "Next thing I knew,

she's inviting me back to her cabin. Lense was on duty, so we had the place to ourselves."

"Now there's a pairing," Bart said. "What on Earth do you think our security chief and chief medical

officer talk about in their downtime?"

Chuckling, Stevens said, "Bart, until last night, I wouldn't have believed that Domenica ever was

off-duty."

"Now you're doing it."

"Doing what?"

"You called her 'Domenica.' I don't think anyone on this ship has ever referred to her as anything other

than 'Corsi,' 'Commander,' or 'Core Breach'-at least in the four months I've been here."

Stevens thought back. "She asked me to. I was actually calling her 'Commander' for the first hour or so,

then she said to call her 'Domenica.'" He laughed. "Come to th ink of it, she also said if I called her

'Dom,' she'd kill me."

"Well, they teach you that stuff at the Academy."

Another sip of coffee. "She was amazingly-well, gentle. And warm. Bart, I did not spend the night with a

woman who deserves to be nicknamed 'Core Breach.'"

"And you don't know what prompted it?"

Stevens shook his head. "No clue."

"Well, do yourself a favor. Try not to think about it until after the mission. Neither of you needs the

distraction."

Grinning, Stevens said, "What, you're ship's counselor now?"

"No, but you don't need a linguist for this mission, so I thought I'd moonlight," Bart said, returning the

grin. "Seriously, before I met Anthony I had my share of one-nighters. They have this tendency to linger

in the brain-more so, if you have to interact with the person." He put an encouraging hand on Stevens's

shoulder. "Just be careful, okay?"

Stevens took a sip of coffee, then nodded. "I will. Thanks, Bart."

"Hey, that's what us roommates are for."

FOUR

Nog hated being alone.

The fact that he spent most of his formative years in Uncle Quark's bar probably had a lot to do with

that. Most of his life was spent in either the bustle of Deep Space 9, the crowded confines of the U.S.S.

Defiant, or at Starfleet Academy. Indeed, the only time he was ever truly alone was during his

convalescence after losing his left leg at AR-558-hardly a fond memory.

So he popped a tube grub into his mouth, took a sip of root beer, and tried to will the da Vinci to hurry

up and arrive here in the Trivas system already.

Ideally, of course, he would've had a team of engineers with him in the Rio Grande. But if DS9 could

have spared the engineers, he wouldn't have needed the da Vinci's help in the first place. The entire

engineering staff and the other S.C.E. personnel that Starfleet had assigned and the Bajoran engineers

were all too busy keeping DS9 from falling to pieces without a fusion core, and also preparing the station

for the insertion of a new one.

I just hope this plan works.

Of course it'll work. Shar and I ran the numbers a hundred times. Both Colonel Kira and Commander

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StarTrekS.C.E.6ColdFusionbyKeithR.A.DeCandidoapprox.19,600wordsKeithR.A.DeCandidoPOBox4976NewYork,NY10185-4976keith@decandido.netwww.decandido.netHISTORIAN'SNOTEColdFusiontakesplacebetweentheStarTrekDeepSpaceNinenovelsAvatarBook2andSection31Abyss.ItalsotakesplacesimultaneouslywithStarTrekS.C.E.7-8In...

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