CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Two days before the Kobai test, after Tai Chi class, Crusher stayed back to talk to Garcia. As always, Garcia had a number of students vying for his attention. Most of it was for technical information, to be checked on their technique, but a couple were simply listening, or otherwise just being social. Mat and Arly tested for their second belts simultaneously and Tammas signed them off. Crusher stepped up to Tammas.
“Do you have a moment?” Crusher asked.
“Sure,” Tammas said.
“In private,” Crusher said.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Mat said, hitting Tammas on the back. A couple of Mat’s friends said farewell, and departed with him.
“Thank you, Tammas,” Arly said. She grabbed her pack, retrieving a bottle of water from it before slinging it over her shoulder. She smiled at Tammas, saluting with her drink.
Tammas turned to Crusher, inviting him to walk with him. “What’s up?” he said, as they stepped out into the evening air. There was too much light pollution in this area for the stars to be visible, and the building lights and street lamps were poor substitutes.
“How’s Rivan doing?” he asked.
“Fine,” Tammas said. “I’m sure she’d be happy to see you if you want to drop by.”
Crusher nodded. Tammas could see he was a bit anxious about something. They were entering the circle of light that shone down from a street lamp. Crusher hesitated, and Tammas paused.
“You know, sometimes it helps just to spit it out,” Tammas said. “What’s on your mind?”
Crusher was always amazed at how light Garcia traveled. He rarely carried a PADD, even to regular classes, much less a pack with miscellaneous items. Normal people always brought at least something with them to athletic training. A towel. A change clothes. Something. Was he that much more organized, or was his simplicity the trick in his ability to focus? Crusher wondered, but knew nothing about Tammas was simple. He almost hated telling Tam what he had to say. “I want out,” Crusher finally said.
Tammas knew what Crusher was asking and forced himself to bite back on his emotions. “I can’t let you out. You know how that will look after the scene with Locarno.”
“I’m having a change of heart,” Crusher said. “I don’t want to participate in this.”
“It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?” Tammas objected.
“I’m willing to stay silent if you let me out,” Crusher said.
Tammas showed his irritation. “I won’t be blackmailed. Go public.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Crusher said. “Look, Albert is still in. I just… I don’t want to do it this way. And strangely enough, what got me thinking about it is Rivan’s presence.”
“Oh, please,” Tammas said. “Don’t blame it on her. The Edo’s acute sense of socially constructed morality has nothing to do with us.”
“Doesn’t it?” Crusher asked. “What about principle?”
“Did you not learn anything from visiting them?” Tammas asked. “You wouldn’t be alive today if there wasn’t some moral flexibility. What we’re doing is not criminal, and so it doesn’t require this level of reflection.”
“I disagree,” Crusher said.
“If there was another way of winning, I would have already taken it,” Tammas said.
“Winning isn’t everything!” Crusher said.
“Since when, Mr. ‘I have the highest grade point average at the Academy?’” Tammas said, sarcasm evident in his voice.
“Look, I don’t want to fight you on it. I just want out. And I have legit out. I have an opportunity to travel stand-by and hook up with the Enterprise. I want to go home. I want to see my mom. I have earned vacation time due to my active duty status and I would like to exercise this option. The Gettysburg is leaving Earth orbit in four hours and will rendezvous with the Zhukov in three days. The Zhukov is scheduled to rendezvous with the Enterprise four days after that. This window of opportunity won’t last long and I have to go now. And I can only go if you put your approval on this.”
Fuming, Tammas grabbed the PADD away from Crusher. The flight schedules were legit. Not that he suspected Crusher to be lying about that, but he was hopeful that the schedules might not be as in sync as Crusher was making it sound, giving him a reason to refuse. He needed Crusher.
“Computer,” Tammas said, opening the PADD’s menu. “Release Crusher from the Kobayashi Maru test, acting Captain Garcia, authorization code, Omicron, Omicron, Zulu, the sky is blue.”
“Acknowledge,” the computer responded.
“Reset my pass code to the next pre-arranged sequence, Garcia out,” Tammas said. He handed the PADD back to Crusher.
“Thank you,” Crusher said, sincerely.
Tammas turned and started walking away. Crusher followed.
“Please, don’t be mad. I would like us to be friends,” Crusher said.
Tammas rounded on him. “Don’t be mad? How dare you! Our friendship is irrelevant to my anger. I’m disappointed. I have to figure out a way to replace you in the test. I considered us partners. I needed you.”
“I did what I agreed. All you have to do is win the test,” Crusher said.
“I intend to,” Tammas said. “It’s just a game, Crusher. It’s not a critical test, you know.”
“I’m not here to try and persuade you out of this,” Crusher said. “I know your mind is set and you intend to win at all cost. I’m not willing to do that, and you should just accept that. This is not my path.”
“And maybe Star Fleet isn’t your path,” Tammas said.
“That’s unfair,” Crusher said.
“Maybe. And you can tell anyone you want that I cheated, as soon as the test is over,” Tammas said. “I won’t have you holding that over my head. No one will hear from me that you assisted me in this. Like I said before, I’ll take full responsibility for cheating.”
“I know. And I believe you,” Crusher said. “I might not have gone this far had I believed otherwise. I just don’t want to play this game. Not like this.”
“Have a nice trip, Crusher,” Tammas said, walking away.
The Kobayashi Maru test was a big affair, almost as big as a baseball tournament two centuries previous. People actually placed bets on how long it would last. And because there was a lot of pre-game work to be done, the entire crew had to be assembled hours before the official starting of the test to go about their duties, just as they might if they were actually assigned to a real ship. A starship was more than just a ship. It was a small, self contained city that required constant upkeep, round the clock shifts. Some of the crew would have to report to their assigned quarters and do nothing, if that’s what their ship schedule called for. Not that it was a break. They knew what was coming. Everyone knew, and those pretending to be sleeping were wishing they were out doing something, anything other than lying there awake running through previous game scenarios.
Naturally, all of that would change the moment they went into battle. Then the quiet little city would become a hornet’s nest of focused activity. Because the simulator was so precise in its recreation of an actual starship, the duty assignments could be logged as actual flight hours. So, for many of the participants, it wasn’t just a day free of studying and regular classes, but an opportunity to put in some quality practice to prepare them for their eventual tour of duties on a Starship.
Tammas took this pre-game time to walk the ship, to see for himself that everyone and everything was in the proper place. He had chosen them all for their particular talents based on their academic files and he knew everyone of them by name. Though he could have memorized more details, like lists of hobbies they engage in, he usually left it at just their names and job descriptions, because anything more tended to freak people out. Very few people had his ability to recall names with faces the way he did, much less personal detail. One would think that people would appreciate a person who could remember your name, even though you’ve only met once, maybe twenty years ago, passing in a turbo lift, on a space station trillions of miles away, but instead they found it a bit spooky. Other than being a good party trick, it didn’t always win him the friends he thought it should. Humans scare too easy, he thought. Then he remembered he was human. Sort of. Is this me, or the Kelvin imprinting?
After inspecting several decks, Garcia made his way to the bridge, talking to people as he went. There was no doubt that the morale was low. Arly, the Zaldan from his Tai Chi class, stopped and had him okay a roster. The only noticeable feature which designated her as non-human was the webbed fingers on her hands. He had met Zaldans before, and knew they also had webbed toes on their feet, and were excellent swimmers, and because they spent so much time in the water, they were generally twice as fit and strong as the average human. He had experienced some of her strength while sparring in Tai Chi class with her, and she was always happy, and playful. At this moment, she wasn’t her usually cheerful self.
“What’s wrong?” Garcia asked her.
“This is my third time being summoned,” Arly said.
Garcia reflected on what he should say. Knowing that Zaldan’s are infuriated by social niceties, being courteous might offend her. “I chose you because of your competency in your field. Is there anything else?”
Arly hesitated, wanting to ask him something without coming off unprofessional, which was a struggle for her as she strived to achieve balance in normal human social etiquette, avoiding sounding too demanding. She decided she would just be her normally assertive self. Garcia would either respond well or not. “I want to share a meal with you. It is customary for the Captain of this test to buy meals for his command staff on loosing, but I want our dinner to be just you and me, alone,” she said, ignoring the glances several cadets gave her as they passed
“And when I win?” Garcia asked.
Arly laughed and hit him in the shoulder. “If you win, I’ll make you a home cooked meal from scratch,” she said.
“I would like something Ethnic, from your culture, and it has to be Vegetarian,” Garcia said. “Let’s say Sunday, after I return from my Survival Test.”
“You’re very confident,” Arly said, finding strength in his optimism. She liked how he was always direct and up front with her, not like the other humans who often wasted time with meaningless words of empty chatter before getting to a point.
“Sometimes,” Garcia said. “We will talk again later.”
Arly had a slight bounce in her walk as she walked away, which suggested to him she was feeling better. She wasn’t the only one that had been in this test three times now, for Garcia had chosen people with the most experience, many of them Senior Cadets, graduating this term. Many of them had no intentions of taking this test again and had hoped to slide out of school putting this all behind them. Though it was obvious to everyone that morale was an issue, it would be no excuse for a loss. As Garcia saw it, the morale wasn’t simply due to the fact that some of the participants didn’t want to be in the test but also because it had been so long since anyone had actually won. People were beginning to become discouraged. Tammas just tried to be upbeat, and if anyone expressed concerns, then he assured them all they had to do was perform their duties to the best of their abilities. He also answered any questions anyone had. To just say, “We’re going to win this time,” seemed too over the top arrogant, and that wasn’t an image he wanted, even though it was an image he was having difficulty shaking. He merely reminded them of their level of competency and the trust that he had in them, making it more about them than about him or about winning or losing.
“Captain on the Bridge,” Locarno announced. The words were right, but Garcia heard only contempt.
Tammas looked around the Bridge, noting Lenar at Ops, Locarno sulking at tactical, Albert at the helm, and Kletsova standing in front of the Captain’s chair watching him as he entered. He did a double take on Kletsova, for she was in a skirted uniform. It was official, but the length of her skirt was probably pushing the approved length. Her hose were opaque, a hint of chocolate, with sparkles. She was definitely pushing it.
“Number One?” he addressed Kletsova, wondering if she was wearing that to purposely distract him.
“Everything is proceeding on schedule,” Kletsova assured him, smiling. She was glad she had his attention.
“Excellent,” Tammas said, walking far enough forward of his chair to address Albert without him having to turn all the way around, and getting Kletsova and her Cosmic Cheerleader outfit temporarily out of his sight. “You look comfortable there, Mr. Albert.”
“I’ve been here before,” Albert admitted, still showing a bit of hostility towards Tammas out of deference to his friend Locarno. He pretended well. “Our course is laid in, Sir. Engine room reports all lights are green. We can be on our way at your discretion.”
“Very well, Mr. Albert,” Tammas said. “For now, I would like you to proceed at Maximum impulse. Course objective on screen.”
That got a few stares from the Bridge crew, even a double take from Albert. Still, he complied. “Aye, Sir. Impulse engines activated. Showing forward momentum. Acceleration curve is plotted and on screen,” Albert confirmed.
Tammas nodded and sat down in the Big Chair. Kletsova looked at him. “At our current location, it’ll take a long time to get to the Rigel finals using only Impulse Engines, Sir.”
“Ah, you can be more precise than that, can’t you?” Tammas chided.
She gave him one of those looks that said she didn’t appreciate his sarcasm, sat back, crossed her arms, and then, as if an after thought, her legs. She rocked her booted foot to and fro as she made her mental calculations. “At the currant rate of acceleration, one hundred, seventy five years, four months, ten days, six hours, and forty four minutes, Sir. And that’s not calculating the need to stop and replenish fuel…”
“Maximum Impulse velocity in ten seconds,” Albert announced, though it wasn’t truly the maximum. They could continue to accelerate indefinitely. It sounded odd to say they could accelerate indefinitely, because everyone knew the restriction of physics: nothing travels faster than the speed of light. But they would truly continue to accelerate as long as they continued to run thrusters. What would happen, though, is as they approached their maximum impulse speed the slower the rate of acceleration would become until it would seem as if they were no longer gaining any speed. In truth, they were gaining. It was just gain at ever infinitesimally smaller increments.
“You’re right, Number One,” Tammas agreed, after ten minutes of watching the acceleration curve. “Mr. Albert, Kletsova thinks you can’t make this thing go any faster. Can you change her opinion?”
“I believe so, Sir. Permission to go to warp?” Albert asked.
“Permission granted, Mr. Albert. Warp factor six,” Tammas said, feeling rather pleased with his performance so far. He could only wonder if Crusher would have performed as well. At least Crusher hadn’t given away the secret, true to his word. Unless, he had ratteed him out and the Professors were all in on it, in which case, this was still a no win scenario… No, Garcia didn’t have time for that kind of thinking. He had to play the game to the best of his ability as if he could win.
“Warp factor six,” Albert said, making it so.
Trini stepped out of the turbo-lift, approached Tammas and handed him a PADD to examine. He put his thumb print on it and handed it back to her. She was also wearing a skirt and he was beginning to suspect a bit of conspiracy between her and Tatiana. He wondered if Rivan had anything to do with this. “I hear you’re taking us all out to dinner tonight,” Trini said.
“Naturally,” Tammas said. “Losers pay, wasn’t that the deal?”
“Something like that,” Trini said. “By the way, that poem you wrote the other day was impossible to read. I don’t know why you gave it to Rivan. It had more references than a T. S Eliot poem.”
“Please, it wasn’t that bad, was it?” Tammas asked.
Tatiana nodded. “It really was. And if Trini and I struggled with it, I’m sure Rivan had a bear of a time,” Tatiana said. “Trini, who was it that said that Eliot was so well read that even God himself would have to do research to understand his humor?”
“Barlo, I think,” Trini said.
“Yeah,” Tatiana said. “Barlo’s online journal. He said, and this is a quote, and when God got lost on an Eliot reference, God sought out Tammas Garcia’s counsel.”
“Well, that’s why I don’t read Barlo,” Tammas said.
“With this poem you revisit the idea that the galaxy is seeded and the T’Kon Empire may have contributed to it before it disappeared,” Trini said. “How often are you going to repeat that theme?”
“I’m sorry that no one else in the universe seems curious that there are so many humanoid, bi-pedal species, with two eyes and a nose and ears all in the relatively same place on the face as humans,” Tammas said. “You can’t explain that with conventional evolution. We all must have diverged from a common ancestor.”
“I did like the idea about pocket starships,” Tatiana said. “The idea that the T’Kon ships might have been completely holographic in nature, and the device for generating the ship hologram might be small enough to fit in your pocket. Clever.”
“Pure fiction, though,” Trini said. “They’ll never make holographic ships.”
“Are you kidding?” Tatiana asked. “If you could have a holographic generator, the size of a class one probe, for example, that could generate an entire Galaxy class starship, you could close down all the ship yards and have as many ships as you need. Hell, everyone might have one.”
“But who would want to fly on one? If you ever lost power, you would loose your entire ship instantly, and find yourself floating in space,” Trini said. “I wouldn’t get on one.”
“Perhaps they would just make holographic crews, no more need for Star Fleet officers,” Tammas said.
“It’ll never happen. You can’t write people out of the equation. With out people, there is no equation,” Trini argued.
“We already have computers that can operate without humans, it’s only a matter of time before all computers are equally sentient. Data is a prime example of that,” Tammas said. “So, what difference does it make if it’s a desk top, a star ship, a class one probe, or an android? We will eventually have to recognize that they all have certain liberties.”
“You mean rights?” Tatiana asked.
“No, I mean liberties,” Tammas said. “Henry didn’t say, give me rights or give me death. He said, give me liberty or give me death. Constitutional law was designed to give us liberties, defining negative rights and positive rights and how governments will interact with their citizens. It was never meant for people to carry their rights around on their sleeves as if they were special super powers that they can call on in the time of need. I have my rights! Look out.”
“You’re too comical,” Trini said, walking to her station.
“Sir?!” Lenar interrupted, acting extremely surprised. Perhaps overdoing it a bit. “Sorry to interrupt, but I am receiving an SOS from a Kobayashi Maru. She has struck a mine and has drifted into the Neutral Zone bordering Federation and Romulan space.”
“Tactical, on screen. Are there any other ships in the vicinity that can come to the rescue?” Tammas asked. He was very calm, collected. After all, he had already done this once…
“No, Captain. We’re the closest,” Locarno responded.
“Very well. Mr. Albert, without bringing us out of warp, put us on an intercept course with the Kobay, and accelerate to warp factor nine,” Tammas said, pushing the red alert button on his arm rest. “All hands, red alert. Battle stations. I need medical teams ready to receive wounded. I also want two teams ready to transport over to the Kobay to aid in rescue.”
“Medical teams are already reporting in, Sir,” Kletsova noted.
“Excellent,” Tammas said, activating the chair Comm. unit again. “Nova squadron, please report to hangar deck four and prepare for deployment. Trini, take the helm.”
This got a few unexpected stares, but it was the reaction Tammas had expected, especially from Locarno. Trini slid into the chair the moment Albert stood up. Locarno was still catching on as Albert stepped in front of the Turbolift doors, depressing the button for an immediate lift.
“Locarno, Albert,” Tammas said. “Let’s make this work.”
Albert gave Locarno a nod that said “this was for real,” and Locarno’s whole attitude suddenly changed. He wanted to say something, but was finding the words hard to come by. The turbo lift doors opened.
“Is there a problem, Locarno?” Tammas asked, looking back over his shoulder.
“No, Sir. Good luck, Sir,” Locarno said.
“Luck is not a factor,” Tammas told him, quoting another obscure movie that no one present would probably know. He winked at Albert.
Albert and Locarno stepped into a turbo lift and were whisked away. Tammas hit the comm. again. “Engine room, put Torres on.”
“Torres here, Sir,” Torres answered.
“Torres, I want you to take two people and an emergency six kit, and report to transporter room two. You’re transporting over to the Kobayashi Maru as soon as we come out of warp. The moment you hit the deck, you’ll have exactly three minutes to eject their warp core. Understand?”
“Three minutes, Sir, I understand,” Torres said.
“Lenar,” Tammas said. “Put a timer on that. As soon as she transports over, give me a count down.”
“Aye,” Lenar said.
“Also,” Tammas said. “Twenty second before we drop out of warp, I want you to eject all the emergency life pods.”
Lenar whistled as he programmed the cue to launch the life pods at exactly twenty second prior to coming out of warp. As soon as the cue was programmed, he said, “I don’t understand why you’re doing that.”
Tammas smiled. “If you remember your recent history, we won’t need life pods. The Romulans don’t take prisoners.” This time he hit his personal comm. badge. “Garcia to Afu, how’s your pet project coming?”
“I need seven more minutes,” Afu answered.
“You have two minutes thirty seconds,” Tammas said. “Just give me what you can. You can now enlist help if you want.”
“Oh, thank you, great Czar,” Afu said, closing the connection before his sarcasm shorted the circuits.
Tammas rose and walked over to Trini. “I need you to keep a heads up for the Kobay’s warp core. The moment Torres ejects it I want you to put us between the core and the Kobay, raising shields on the side facing the core. I’ll need us as close as you can get us to the Kobay. Understand?”
Trini just smiled. “Sir, I’ll have us so close the remaining passengers will be able to step over to us.”
“That’s my girl,” Tammas said, touching her shoulder. He looked back to see who had taken over tactical. It was an Olina Mirren. She was new at the Academy, filling a vacancy created when someone had recently dropped out. As this was her first experience with the Kobayashi Maru test, she was no doubt feeling a little anxious. He hadn’t officially met her yet. She had been inserted into the roster after Crusher vacated his post, and all he knew of her was her name. And that she was cute, for a human. He frowned, telling himself to keep his thoughts professional. “Mirren. As soon as you have a visual on the core, I’ll need you to target it, but hold your fire until I give the word.”
“Aye, Sir,” Mirren said, wondering why he had frowned at her. Had she already done something wrong? Was he expecting someone else?
“One minute, forty seconds, until we drop out of warp,” Trini announced.
“Be ready to raise the shields if we need to, Lenar,” Tammas said. “Oh, and for the last of the crazy orders, as soon as we come out of warp, I want all torpedo bays to start launching class one probes at will, as fast as possible and as many as possible. Basically, don’t stop until we run out probes, or I give the order to start loading photon torpedoes. I want each probe broadcasting transponder recognition codes for various types of ships on all frequencies, and, at my command, I will want all probes to begin radiating the entire visible spectrum of the EM band. Have the probes gather in a Sigma spheroid formation, with the Kobay as the focus. We’re going to light this space up.”
At that, Tammas took out a tin of gum he had stashed in the command chair’s hidden compartment, opened it, and popped a piece in his mouth. He noticed Tatiana giving him a queer look, and so he held the open tin up to her, offering her a piece.
“No, thank you,” Tatiana said.
Tammas shrugged and pocketed the tin. He chewed contentedly, confident that there was nothing more he could do but wait and admire the dedication of his fellow shipmates. He noticed Kletsova staring at him, seemingly agitated. “You’re perturbed about something?”
“Either you’re over confident, or you’re chewing a valium,” Tatiana said. “Either way, you’re making me nervous.”
Tammas smiled pleasantly, as if this was just another day in the park. “Did I tell you, you look cute in that cheer leader outfit?” he asked her.
“Umph,” Tatiana said. “Surprised you even noticed.”
“How is this possible?” Locarno asked Albert point blank the moment the turbo lift doors closed on the Bridge.
“We have assault fighter simulators set up on the hangar deck and they will be tied in tandem to the Kobayashi Maru simulation,” Albert said. “Though technically we won’t be leaving the hangar deck, from inside our assault ship simulators we will have the same experience we would if we were actually flying our fighters.”
“That’s not quite what I meant,” Locarno said. “I wanted to know how this is possible. I never thought to bring a squadron along with us.”
Albert nodded. “It’s permissible under the rule structure. It’s just not advertised.”
“Alright, I’ll have to compliment Garcia on that one. We’re still going to have communication issues with all the jamming the Romulans will be doing. We need to come up with a way to signal each other using our beacon lights…
“Tammas has provided a solution to the communications problem,” Albert said.
The turbo lift came to a halt, the doors opened, and Albert was the first one out, running.
“What kind of solution?” Locarno asked, chasing after Albert.
They entered the hangar deck at a run and came to a screeching halt. The rest of Nova Squadron was there, but so was Sierra Squadron. Sendak immediately came up to Lorcano.
“Sir,” Sendak said. “Sierra Squadron volunteers to fly shot gun with your team in order to facilitate communication via your squad’s ships and the Enterprise, using our telepathic abilities.”
“You know, Albert,” Locarno said. “I think we might just win this one! Everyone take your ships, and welcome your Sierra Squadron member. Thank you, Sendak. I suppose one of your pilots can fill in for Crusher? Let’s move, people. We’re launching the moment the Enterprise drops out of warp.”
Torres grabbed an emergency six kit from a wall and pulled it free, tossing it to one of the Engineers coming towards her. “You’re with me, Cadet. And you, over there. Yes, you. Whatever your name is, come with me, now.”
The two followed her to the transporter room where two security personnel were waiting. There was also a medical team standing by to treat patients brought on board via transporter use.
“What’s your names?” Torres asked the two crew members she had brought with her. They seemed bored.
“Kelly, Sir,” Kelly said. “Nathan Kelly.”
“Phillips, Sir,” the other answered. “Terry Phillips”
“Great,” Torres said. “Our job is to eject their warp core.”
“But there’s nothing wrong with their warp core, Sir,” Kelly pointed out.
“Did anyone ask you if there was anything wrong with the warp core, Kelly?” Torres asked. He shook his head no. “Good, because all I know is the Captain says eject their warp core. So, what am I going to do? I’m going to eject their warp core. Do either of you have a problem with that?”
Neither volunteered a complaint. She was satisfied that they agreed with her.
“I still see no signs of Romulan activities,” Mirren said.
“Oh, they’re there, Olinana,” Tammas assured her, not facing her. He studied the tactical, looking for any inconsistencies. “But we won’t see them until after the first transporter wave. Transporter teams ge