July/August Challenge: SNW: Big Shoes

[DarKush]

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS

BIG SHOES

(2259)

Writer’s Note: This story has major spoilers for Strange New Worlds, especially the ninth episode, “All Those Who Wander”. PLEASE do not read this story if you care about SNW spoilers.


“You too, huh?” Wally Ainsworth asked, patting his growling stomach. Pulling herself away from a large bowl of noodles, the slender, Xindi-Reptilian looked up at him, and smirked.

“I was expecting…a feast,” she admitted.

“Me too,” Wally replied as he sauntered over to the food processor station. He quickly looked through the offerings, made his selection and inserted it into the slot. Once a steaming bowl of Cincinnati-style chili had been synthesized, he took it and a glass of water over to sit across from the still scarfing woman.

“I had heard that the captain greets new officers with a banquet,” Ainsworth didn’t hide his disappointment. The last time he had gotten an invite was shortly after he had come aboard Enterprise. The captain had had Commander Nhan, who was overseeing ship’s security at that time, arrange a gathering. And that had been several years ago. Pike wanted to break bread with all of the people under his command which meant it might take several more years the way new crew were always coming aboard if that to get a second invite.

“And a roundtable,” the woman replied, around another mouthful. She swallowed, apologized, wiped her mouth, and then offered, “My name is Dita.”

“Wallace,” Ainsworth replied. “But everyone calls me Wally.”

“It’s understandable that Captain Pike, nor the rest of the senior staff, felt like celebrating,” Dita replied. Wally nodded with grim understanding.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he offered. “I didn’t know Commander Hemmer, but he saved our bacon enough to be forever in his debt. His absence will be greatly felt.”

The woman nodded, a pained expression creasing her scaly features. “Some considered the commander to be gruff, but his personality was quite mild for my kind,” she smirked again, “Though I was wise enough to never tell him that.”

Wally chuckled. “Lt. Noonien-Singh wasn’t a walk in the park either,” he admitted. “But what she taught me, and the rest of Security, was invaluable. I just don’t know how…”

Dita waved away his concerns. “The captain also told you that you had ‘big shoes to fill?’”

Ainsworth blinked, “Why, yes.”

“He gave me the same speech,” Dita said. She pushed her bowl away. “It certainly doesn’t lessen the pressure any, does it?”

“No,” Wally looked down at the still steaming bowl. His appetite withered. “It doesn’t.”

“I think the captain meant to inspire us, but it felt more like a…warning,” the woman admitted.

“I took it more like a challenge,” Wally replied, though he wasn’t so sure if how Dita viewed the exchange wasn’t correct.

“However you processed it, we have a lot to live up to,” the woman said, nodding curtly to reinforce her point. “And it’s best to get to it.” She pushed back from the table, smoothed her unruffled red tunic, and made for the door. Wally was still eyeing the cooling bowl, willing his appetite to come back, when she called out, “What are you waiting on Mr. Ainsworth? It’s time to make our mark!”

****************************************************************

“Make our mark,” Wally mumbled as he ambled through the empty corridor. He shook his head. Just how the hell was he going to do that on an empty vessel? After the trip to Deep Space Station K-7 to deliver vital vidium power cells and retrieving the survivors off Valeo Beta V, the Enterprise had returned to Earth.

Most of the crew had been given shore leave to mourn and recuperate. Ainsworth could’ve taken leave as well, but it didn’t feel right to leave the ship so soon after being promoted acting security chief. He knew that La’an never took time off, willingly, and he wanted to live up to her example. He intended to go over the vessel from stembolt to stern, so he knew every inch of the Constitution-class vessel like the back of his hand.

He knew that La’an, not to mention the even more intimidating Commander Chin-Riley would expect nothing less. Surprisingly even the first officer had left the ship. Wally knew that she and La’an had been close, so Noonien-Singh taking a leave of absence had to have hit her hard. Right now, it seemed like Enterprise was too filled with ghosts, even for the formidable first officer.

For no reason he was willing to admit, Wally pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. “How are things shakin’ Dita?” The other new senior officer had also stayed behind.

“Shaking?” The woman didn’t hide her confusion. “I’m getting no readings that the ship moved.”

“It’s a figure of speech, a human figure of speech,” Ainsworth explained.

“I…comprehend,” the Xindi said after a moment. “Everything is properly secured in Engineering. And the docking tethers are holding.”

Wally sighed. “I was just inquiring how things were going.”

“I have a lot of work to do to get Enterprise ready to disembark,” she answered.

“I suspected as much,” Ainsworth said. “Things couldn’t be slower here. There’s not much securing to do when there are only a handful of people onboard.”

“I’m sure the phaser rifles could use more charging,” Dita suggested. Wally wasn’t sure if he detected a teasing note in her voice.

“They always need more charging,” Wally rolled his eyes. He was holding off on doing that drudge work until he absolutely ran out of things to do.

“Perhaps, on your next round to Engineering, we could both visit the mess hall,” the woman offered.

Before Wally replied, he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Lieutenant Ainsworth?” Dita inquired.

“Oh, uh, hold on,” Wally said, wincing at leaving the woman hanging.

“Is something wrong?”

“Thought I saw something,” he said as he jogged to the end of the corridor. He looked both ways but only saw spotless floors. “I must be losing it,” he muttered.

“What was that?”

“Oh, uh, nothing,” Wally said. Then he remembered. Smacking his temple, he said, “About that break, yeah, let’s do that.”

******************************************************************

 

[DarKush]

******************************************************************

Dita was already waiting for him, seated at the table where she had been sitting before. Instead of demolishing her plate this time, she was holding back, waiting for him. Wally forced the smile from his face.

Even though they were still on duty, with the ship so empty, it seemed almost like he was on vacation anyway, with Dita. Though he hadn’t told the engineer that. He wasn’t sure how he could even broach the idea, or even if he should.

He knew little about the Xindi outside of history vids and as far as he knew their relationship rituals excluded humans. Glancing at his naked ringer finger, Wally reminded himself that he didn’t know how to navigate human relationships much less interspecies.

He took a look at the jagged bones spiking through a mound of bloody meat on her plate, “Looks appetizing,” he joked. The woman scowled.

“What that human sarcasm, or what was supposed to pass for it?” Dita replied.

Wally chuckled as he sauntered past her on his way to the food slot. “Funny.” As he was fumbling for the right food card the lights flickered. He glanced over at Dita. “I know I didn’t imagine that”, he said.

Her leathery countenance creased. “No, you did not.” She lifted the communicator beside her plate. “Dita to Engineering.”

“Lieutenant,” a breathless voice cut her off. “Sorry sir, I was just about to call you,” they quickly added.

Dita frowned, but said, “Go on.”

“We just experienced a momentary fluctuation in the main EPS power grid that affected several decks,” came the speedy reply.

“Including the Mess Hall?” The Xindi asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Have you determined the cause for the fluctuation?”

“We haven’t,” the junior engineer replied. “Though I have initiated a level-one diagnostic to get to the source of the problem.”

“I will be back shortly Mr. Collins to oversee the diagnostic,” she replied. “Please proceed to take the main EPS grid offline.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Hey, cutting out on me?” Wally asked as the woman got from her seat. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and placed it over the half-eaten meal. “Duty awaits.”

“That’s duty calls,” he corrected.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he waved it away. “I was just hoping we could…you know…”

“Know what?”

“Uh, um, have lunch together.”

“That is…or rather was… an appealing prospect, but there is a problem with the EPS grid that needs addressing.”

“You think it’s that serious?”

“I can’t say, until I review the diagnostic data,” she replied.

“Fair enough,” Wally said. “Well, I hope it isn’t too much of a pain fixing whatever’s out of whack.” The lights had flickered for a second, so maybe it was just a harmless glitch.

Dita dipped her head. “I do…as well.”

He wagged the flood card at her. “Until next time, then?”

She smiled, “Yes.”

Wally turned back to the food processor. He was less excited about lunch, but he programmed a meal anyway.

He leaned over the processor, half-watching as the computer replicated the chicken and rice he had ordered. He was just realizing that the process was taking longer than usual when there was an bright flash within the synthesizer, forcing him to cover his eyes.

When he chanced looking, the inside of the processor was blackened, and his chicken and rice looked a like a charred lump. A lump that began to move.

Curiosity overriding common sense, Wally approached the synthesizer. He was activating his tricorder when the door burst open, and he registered more movement before he felt needles of pain.

************************************************************************

When Wally came to, Dita was bending over him. The reptilian was running a tricorder over him. “What?” He said weakly.

“How are you feeling Lieutenant Ainsworth?” She asked.

“I,” he didn’t know how to answer that. He could only wince.

“You suffered a mild concussion, several puncture wounds consistent with bite marks on your face,” the engineer explained.

“Huh?” He blinked, confused, before the horrible memory came back.

“Something, something was inside the food slot,” he recalled. “It, uh, it attacked me.” He tried to look around for it, but the sudden movement made his head hurt. “Oh God, it wasn’t a Gorn was it?” He recalled the horror stories Lt. Noonien-Singh had told them about Valeo Beta V.”

“You’re still alive, so I doubt it was a Gorn.” Dita replied. Wally had to nod at that, and the realization that he hadn’t been become a human incubator for ravenous Gorn hatchlings calmed him immeasurably.

“Do you remember what this…creature…looked like?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head slowly, and wincing at the effort. “It was like a lot of teeth. What the hell?”

She frowned. “I hadn’t even made it to the turbolift when Collins told me about another energy spike in the Mess Hall. When I rushed back, I saw you on the floor, unconscious.”

“Damn,” he muttered.

“We need to get you to Sickbay,” she replied. She reached for her communicator.

“Hold on,” he said, grabbing her wrist, before he realized he was touching her without her permission. He recoiled like he once had after touching a hot phaser power pack. “Sorry.”

“This is more serious than a glitch,” Dita said. “You need medical attention, and we need to inform the captain.”

“It looks like the worst of my injuries came from me falling on my ass and cracking my noggin,” he said. Dita reluctantly nodded. “The bites are treatable.”

“We don’t know if they will become infected,” she replied.

“I’ll find that out, soon enough, but the idea of bringing the captain back from his vacation,” he shook his head. “This might not be so serious, could just be some bats in the belfry, if you catch my drift.”

“I do not,” the woman admitted.

“This could be some minor, space rodent-like infestation,” he said. For a second her eyes glazed over, with a look akin to desire. It freaked Wally out, but he played through it. “I mean, we were docked at Station K-7, we might have picked up some critters unbeknownst while there.”

“That is…plausible,” she admitted. “All the more reason to alert the captain.”

“Yeah, I’m not saying we shouldn’t tell the captain, it would be a dereliction of our duty not to do so,” Wally nodded. “I’m just saying we should tell him after we’ve solved the problem.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Okay,” Wally said. He slowly sat up. His head swam. He closed his eyes and pushed back the waves. “We both want promotions and solving this certainly miniscule nuisance could go a long way to making that happen.”

“This feels like something the captain should be made aware of,” Dita pushed back.

“And he will, after we’ve proved our worth to him and the vessel,” Wally assured her.

“I don’t like this,” the reptilian said.

“Understood,” Wally nodded. “But I don’t have to know much about you to reckon how hard it has been for a Xindi, a Xindi-Reptilian no less, to make it to the flagship of the Federation. People like to say they are high-minded, but old wounds simply leave scars.” The woman drew back, and he knew he had hit paydirt. “A Xindi-Reptilian as chief engineer of the Enterprise would go a long way to proving that the Xindi are as worthy of anyone else to belong in Starfleet.”

“And what about you?” Dita didn’t hide her suspicion. “What do you get out of this.”

Wally looked at his empty ring finger again. “Redemption,” he replied, thinking of his last assignment aboard the Starship Fidelity. Thankfully Dita didn’t press him, and he didn’t offer up anything more. “Captain Pike and Commander Nhan took a chance on me that no one else would take, and I feel I owe it to him, and her memory, to make good on that risk they took.”

Dita huffed. “Fine,” she said. “What do you propose?”

“First things,” he said. “I need some aspirin, and after that, we go snipe hunting.”

**********************************************************************

 

[DarKush]

**********************************************************************


Wally’s headache was only background pain when he made the call. When the screen came on, his next wincing came from his heart, not his head. “Wally,” his ex-wife glowered at him. “What do you want?”

“Hey, Lucy, long time, huh?” He tried smiling but gave up. The redhead glared at him.

“You got five seconds.”

“Okay, okay,” Wally rushed. He told her a streamlined version of the troubles he had encountered. “You encountered anything like that aboard the starbase?”

The woman shook her head. She muttered, but speaking louder, “How you wound up on the Enterprise-the Enterprise-of all assignments, and I got stuck on a space station, it’s the very definition of failing upward.”

“We both made mistakes,” he said, his irritation overtaking his contrition, “And we both are paying for it. I just got a reprieve, but one I could lose, at any moment.”

“Why should I help you?”

“We were married once.”

“Again, why should I help you?”

“We’re still Starfleet officers,” Wally said. “And if you know something that poses a serious threat to this ship and crew, it’s your duty to report it. Mind you we are docked at Starbase One so lots of lives could be at stake.”

“Just like it’s your duty to inform your captain,” Lucy shot back. “But same old Wally,” she shook her head.

“Are you going to help me or not?”

She cursed, spat, and then said, “Describe what attacked you again?”

He did the best he could to recall the events. He swore there was a twinkle in her eye as he recounted his attack. Lucy twisted her lips in thought for a few moments, her freckled brow crinkling.

“Sounds like you’ve got plasmapedes.”

“What?”

Ignoring the question, she continued, “They are rare, hailing from a once inhabited planet in the Heki system. Best the brains could come up with is that the plasmapedes survived the intense climate change on their home planet by adapting to survive via photosynthesis. They feed off energy, the hotter the better.”

“Damn,” Wally muttered. “That explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“It wasn’t attacking me,” he surmised. “When I came to my senses…” he paused and looked at her, “such as they are.” She couldn’t help but smirk at that. “My phaser and tricorder had been ripped open and rendered inoperative. It was going for the energy in my devices, not me.”

“Plasmapedes will attack humans,” she corrected, “with our body’s electrical impulses and all, but they prefer more concentrated forms of energy.”

“I see,” Wally said, but he was really muddling through. Lucy could see that as well.

“Like I said, plasmapedes are rare, but they can be very dangerous. Plus, the more they gorge, the more they reproduce. The idea of an outbreak of them on a station the size of Starbase One…”

She didn’t finish the thought. She didn’t have to.

“Well, I guess we better get bagging them then.”

“This isn’t a game Wally,” Lucy said. “If you don’t alert your captain or the starbase commander I will.”

“No,” he said. “You know, when I said I would never ask for anything in return for saving your life.”

“Don’t,” she shook her head.

“Sorry,” he replied. “But I need this. I need to make things right.”

“You can’t change the past, but you don’t have to screw up the future.”

“You got to trust me, Lucy.”

“I did…once,” she said darkly, “And look where it got me.”

“I can do this,” he declared.

“You got 24 hours,” she said.

“Oh, come on.”

“That’s it, Wallace,” she said. She always used his full name when she wanted to hammer something home. “That’s all I’m giving you. If you can’t solve it by then the Enterprise and the starbase might still have a chance to eliminate the infestation.”

“I think you’re blowing this out of proportion,” Wally said. “I mean, all we got to do is use the ship’s sensors and sweep them all up in a transporter beam, and voila.”

She sighed, “You always think things are too easy. The plasmapedes also developed an ability to evade sensors, which means you’ll have to go through the ship, find their nests, and flush them out.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. “How hard can it be?”

“They feed off energy, remember, so stun settings won’t work,” she replied. “And the more they feed the more incorporeal they can become, which means they can shift through three-dimensional objects.”

“Now, this is sounding less fun,” he admitted.

“Absent a complete shutdown, including your ship’s warp core, you’re going to have to use some kind of insect traps or repellant if you got it,” she explained. “And that’s only if you catch them before they start shifting.”

Wally thought for a moment, before grinning, “Yeah, we got insect traps and repellant, we’re the Enterprise!” His ex was less enthused. Just like the bad old days, he thought.

“Don’t take plasmapedes lightly,” she warned.

“I won’t.” He promised.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, be careful, okay?”

“I always take of myself.”

“Yeah,” her expression darkened. “And that’s what concerns me.”

**********************************************************************

Even though the door to her office was closed, Dita still whispered, “They look almost…appetizing,” she replied, surprising herself. After Lucy had sent him all the information, she had on the plasmapedes and he had rushed down to Engineering to share it with Dita.

Wally looked at her askance. The long, tubular, shiny, black-shelled insects, with countless legs, reminded him of Earth centipedes, except bigger and lot nastier.

Dita was viewing a picture of the creature’s face, with its open mouth full of small, but needle-like teeth. “If these insects primarily feed on energy, perhaps their mouths are like vestigial appendages.”

He touched his still tender face. “That thing’s teeth didn’t feel vestigial to me.” Though he had promised Dita he would get checked out by the nurse on duty, Wally had just eaten half-a-bottle of aspirin he already had in his quarters. From what Lucy had sent him there was no evidence that the plasmapedes carried diseases so he wasn’t worried about incubating the next bubonic plague.

“I apologize if I made light of your discomfort,” she looked at him. The genuine concern in her eyes was nice to see. It had been a long time.

“I’m good,” he replied, waving it away.

“Twenty-four hours,” Dita said.

“Yep,” he nodded.

“We should alert the captain and the starbase commander now,” the Xindi replied. “We can’t be certain if some plasmapedes have not already left the Enterprise.”

“Doubtful,” Wally shook his head.

“How can you be sure?”

“Nothing has come up in the routine status and security reports I’ve seen that sounds similar,” he said. “I think we’ve got time here to handle this.”

“Limited time.”

“Just gets the blood pumping is all.”

“And what your plan?” Dita asked. “The idea of shutting down the warp core is going to be hard to explain away.”

“True,” Wally nodded, “But we shouldn’t have to get to that point. If we shut down certain sections, as part of expanding that diagnostic already initiated by your man Collins, that can be our reason…”

“Excuse.”

“What have you,” he conceded, “But it if we shut down the power throughout the ship, deck by deck we can force them to be where we want them to be. They’ll scurry right into our insect traps.”

“And you’re sure they’ll hold?”

“I’m trusting your engineering skills here,” he smirked.

“If we start shutting off sections of the ship, what’s to say they won’t all just rush to Engineering?” Dita pondered with a frown. “I’m surprised they just haven’t done so already.”

“Thus far the pickings have been pretty good for them throughout the ship,” Wally shrugged. “Maybe they aren’t as greedy as Lucy thinks, or they don’t want to kill their golden goose yet, anyway.”

“Do you think a Level 10 Forcefield around the warp core will keep them out?”

“Only one true way to find out,” Wally replied with a shrug.

“You already know about my unease, but I don’t like implicating Ensign Collins in this, or the rest of my team. They’ve foregone shore leave to assist me.”

“As has most of my skeleton crew. All they need to know is that they are corralling some pests.” He held up his hands. “Which isn’t a lie.”

“It isn’t the full truth either,” Dita glowered.

“It’s close enough, and when we handle this, and show the captain what we are made of, both of our teams will get to share in the glory.”

“So you say.”

“Why do you put it like that?”

“I’ve looked up your service record,” Dita said. “The Fidelity.”

Wally pulled within himself. “I don’t want to talk about that,” he said sharply. The woman wasn’t put off by his sudden brusqueness.

“You expect me to trust you, when that didn’t go so well for your former crewmates.”

Wally looked away from here, unable to meet her gaze. “You’re right,” he admitted. His voice sounded far away, even to him. “I failed a lot of people and I’ve been working hard ever since to prove I’m still worthy of this uniform. That’s it, that’s all. Please, let me have the 24 hours Lucy gave us.”

The reptilian was silent for a long while. Almost too long. “Okay,” she said softly.

“Okay?” he repeated, in part because he didn’t believe she had said the words. “Okay!” He jumped out of his chair, hugged the woman, and kissed her pebbly cheek. She shifted smoothly in his grasp until she faced him.

She kissed him a long while. But not long enough.

*****************************************************************

 

[DarKush]

*****************************************************************


Lieutenant Ainsworth’s head was swimming again, but this time not from pain. There had been a tryst or two here or there, even while had been aboard Enterprise, but no one had kissed him with such intensity since Lucy, and even then, the last time was in the early days of their marriage.

After he had they had disentangled, Wally felt a smidgen of guilt about the position he had put Dita in, but he didn’t share that with her. If things went according to plan everyone would win.

As he stood before his security team, he also felt a bit bad for pulling the wool most of the way over their eyes too. “Sir, are we sure those boxes can hold these…what are they called again?” Pulido asked. Of course, it had to be her.

“Plasmapedes.” Like clockwork, Chiang chimed in. Before she left, Noonien-Singh suggested, and Wally concurred that running buddies Pulido and Chiang needed less shore leave after their last trip to the starbase.

“Oh, yeah, whatever.” Pulido shrugged. Wally bit back a retort and simply shook his head.

Dita and her engineers had constructed several duranium boxes. Inside each was an energy net. The theory was that the hungry plasmapedes would be drawn into the boxes because that would be the only energy nearby and that it should distract them long enough to be placed in stasis or blown out an airlock. Wally hadn’t made up his mind yet which.

“This sounds a lot like that light virus we all got from Hetemit IX,” Adams opined.

“Not quite,” Wally rebutted, “Though the solution isn’t too much different. Lights out, but this time we are doing it to draw the little crawlies out.”

Moncuse shuddered, “Bugs are so not my thing.”

“Never say that around our insectoid crewmates,” Wally admonished half-jokingly. Once the chuckles fizzled, he slung his phaser rifle over his shoulder and pulled his tricorder from his belt. Playtime was over. “Pulido, you’re with me.” Chiang looked forlornly at Pulido who Wally caught rolling her eyes. Wally would let that one go, this time.

“Chiang and Adams, Javins and Moncuse, here are your sections.” He pressed a button on the tricorder and transmitted the information. The guards quickly looked it over. “Any questions?” Though the question was intended for the group, Wally looked directly at Pulido.

“No,” she said, with an askew smile. If Nhan or Noonien-Singh were in his stead she wouldn’t be so cavalier, Wally thought. She didn’t respect him, but maybe, that would change after he pulled this off.

“Alright,” he said, injecting as much confidence in his voice as he could muster. “All we got to do is set up the boxes and then let the fish jump right into the barrels.”

“Piece of cake, right?” Pulido smugly asked.

He couldn’t wait until he got the nod from Pike so he could remake the security department in his image, and hopefully have it shipshape when Lt. Noonien-Singh came back. Though to unease, Pulido was more like himself than he cared to admit.

*****************************************************************

“What was that noise?” After waiting for what felt like eternity, Wally was getting jumpy.

“That’s just my stomach sir,” Pulido replied drily. “I’m famished. How much longer are we going to be stuffed inside this tube?”

“Until the job is done,” he said curtly. His patience was wearing thin as well. Where were the little buggers? They had set the box up by the EPS conduit, open and ready, but so far, no takers.

Wally checked in with the other teams. None of them had netted any plasmapedes. He looked at the chronometer on his wrist before contacting Engineering.

“Engineering, this is Lt. Ainsworth,” he said, trying to sound officious. He definitely didn’t want Pulido getting a whiff of his feelings for Dita.

“Wally,” the Xindi’s tone was crisp. “You haven’t captured any of the plasmapedes.”

“How did you know?”

“Because”, she paused, and then sighed, “They are all here, already inside the warp core.”

****************************************************************

 

[DarKush]

****************************************************************


“Great Bird of the Galaxy,” Wally whistled as he saw the long, tendril like insects swimming through the plasma-bleeding heart of the Enterprise. “How can they survive that?”

“They can’t,” Dita said, after looking up from the main engineering console. “They are crawling to their deaths, in massive numbers.”

“Okay, problem solved,” Wally replied, rubbing his hands. “That was easier than I thought.”

“You don’t understand,” the Xindi hissed. “There are too many of them. Eventually they will clog the intermix chamber and trigger a warp core breach.”

“What?!” Wally spat.

“We need to initiate a full plasma flush right now, or we will have to eject the warp core to prevent a breach.”

“We can’t do either of those things, not docked inside Starbase One.”

“I know,” the woman said, “that’s why we need to move the ship out to a safe location to initiate the purge.”

“Neither of us has that authorization,” Wally replied. “And if we attempt to do so on our own all kinds of klaxons are going to go off. We’ll be keelhauled out to space along with those creepy crawlies.”

“That’s why we need to go to someone who has the authority.”

“Come on, we can still figure something out, right? I mean, if they are all inside the core now, can’t you just turn up the juice a little and cook them all?”

“I would have to deactivate the warp core containment field, which would irradiate a good portion of the ship before it triggered a warp core breach. There’s no choice here. We’ve run out of options.”

“Damn, I’m sure you can come up with something.”

“Its out of our hands now,” the woman replied.

Wally scowled. “What do you mean by that?”

He just had to ask. “Lt. Dita, we’re ready to disembark, prepare to go to impulse on my command.” The voice was authoritative, vaguely familiar but he was drawing blanks. He looked askance at the engineer, but she barely met his gaze.

“Who is that?”

“Admiral April,” she finally answered.

Wally blinked. Not sure he heard her correctly, he asked again. She gave him the same answer. April, the first skipper of this vessel. The legend who had mentored Pike. This was even worse than going to the captain.

As if reading his mind again, April spoke again, “Chief Dita, is Lt. Ainsworth with you in Engineering?”

“Ah, yes sir,” she said, looking guiltily at him.

“Tell him I would like to see him up on the bridge,” April paused, letting the portent linger, “pronto.”

***************************************************************


This was one invite to Pike’s office that Wally wasn’t looking forward to. When the doors parted there was no alluring smell of food cooking or the pleasant sounds of laughter, conversation, or glasses clinking.

The room now felt as stark and solemn as the broad-shouldered man sitting behind the desk. Captain Christopher Pike was back home. He didn’t stand up; he didn’t offer or gesture toward a seat. Without preamble, he asked, “Mr. Ainsworth why did you almost destroy my ship?”

Wally blubbered for a long time. He did his best to put the blame on himself and keep it off Dita. Pike listened intently, his expression unchanging.

Pike did offer Wally a glass of water after the man had finished, but the security chief declined. He had run out of words because he was spent, not thirsty.

Pike tugged on his golden tunic. “You know, Mr. Ainsworth,” he paused, “Wally.” Wally wasn’t sure that was a good sign or not that the captain had used his nickname. “Nhan put a lot of trust in you, and I trusted Nhan. La’an initially had less trust in you, but you earned your place on her team. So much so that I thought you would be a good replacement until Lt. Noonien-Singh comes back from leave of absence. This could’ve been a good career booster for you, could’ve led to a security chief posting on another starship or starbase.” He shook his head, his expression pained. “I just hate it when people torch their opportunities, especially when you worked so hard to claw yourself back.”

Wally wanted to defend himself but found he couldn’t. All he offered was, “Sir, I didn’t want to endanger the ship and the crew, or Starbase One. I thought, foolishly, arrogantly, that I could handle this, and that it would help my career, as well as the ship.”

“You weren’t in this alone,” Pike offered. “Lt. Dita has taken full responsibility. She’s offered to resign her commission over this.”

“Sir, I’m damaged goods, but Dita, she’s…she’s special,” Wally pleaded. “Do what you must with me. Even if that means I got to crack rocks in the stockade. That’s where the board of inquiry probably should’ve sent me anyway after the Fidelity.”

“Believe it or not, Admiral Pike put in a good word for you. You assisted him ably, working the navigator station while he steered the ship out into open space.” He smiled. “He said it was the most fun he had in a long time.” It had been quite the fireworks show after Dita had vented the entire ship of plasma. April had ordered the main viewer to magnify on the frozen remnants of plasmapedes to insure they had been successful. Unfortunately, they only had power left to maintain life support, and just barely, so it was left to the accompanying Achilles to phaser sweep away the bugs and drag the Enterprise back to the starbase.

“Sir, if my resignation can ensure that no one else has to suffer for this,” he plucked the delta badge off his chest. “You have it.”

Pike held up a hand. “Hold your horses Mr. Ainsworth.” Wally gulped down the rest of his plea. The captain picked up a slate gray PADD and read from it. “Lt. Wallace Hamish Ainsworth…” Uh oh, Wally thought. Things always went downhill after they started off reading your full name. He tuned back in as the captain was saying, “Upon my recommendation, and endorsed by Admiral April, we recommend you be transferred, with a reduction in rank to lieutenant junior grade to the Federation Merchant Service.”

“I…I can’t believe it.” He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

“When I gave you this job, I told you, you had big shoes to fill,” Pike said. “Some people can rise to meet that challenge, while others, can’t, and that’s okay. You still have a ways to go on your journey Mr. Ainsworth, but I think your skills are better suited in a less…stringent service than Starfleet.”

“Alright,” Wally replied slowly, not sure if he should feel insulted or not. He stuffed his own ego to the back of his mind. “What about Dita?”

Pike nodded, his lips drawing tight. “I didn’t accept the Lieutenant’s offer to resign. She’s not ready to take on the full responsibilities of chief engineer, especially for the Federation flagship, but her understanding of her limitations as well as understanding when to ask for help, albeit it late, proved to me she has the makings of a great Starfleet officer.” He frowned, “but alas, that’s not meant to be.”

“But you said you didn’t accept her resignation.”

“I didn’t,” Pike replied. “But she didn’t feel like she deserved to serve on the Enterprise anymore and requested a transfer. I disagreed, but I granted her request.”

“Captain, if I may ask, where is she going?”

Pike sat back. A smile played across his lips. “Mr. Ainsworth, who do you think gave me the idea of sending you to the Merchant Marines?”


THE END


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[Robert Bruce Scott]

Doom hanging over Ainsworth from the start... Nice combination of a command story with romance. Definitely liking the plasmapedes - sweet critter design.

Thanks!! rbs

 

[admiralelm11]

That was a great story.

 

[CeJay]

Had me going there for a while. Thought this was a doomed Redshirt adventure. Well, it kinda was, just not quite as dramatic.

But you could tell Wally was in over his head from the moment this all started. Feel sorry for Dita the engineer to get dragged down with him. But I suppose she should've known better.

Loved the ending. April commanding Enterprise one last time was a nice touch. And I thought you absolutely nailed Mount's Pike, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite Trek captains.