We Could Use A Little Luck

[DrDMatthews 0]

Presented by Commander Ridire and Dr. Matthews

 

 

Debbie Matthews and Aidan Ridire were alone on the bridge of the Starship Hawking. The Constellation Class vessel was still moored in her berth at the Saurian junk yard just as she had been for the last four years, a silent and dark testimony to an illustrious career long gone. That was about to change.

 

Although there were less than a dozen crew aboard, the Hawking was slowly but surely reawakening. A lot of the work had already been done for them by unknown persons. For that, Debbie was grateful. At least the ship was spaceworthy. Then again, she and her crewmates wouldn't be in this mess if those unknown persons hadn't sneaked aboard the Hawking to perform their unauthorized repairs.

 

Commander Ridire was at Ops while Matthews monitored the ship's power situation from the engineering station. Debbie was also running additional diagnostics on the Hawking's main computer. If they were to make their escape, they had to be sure no outside forces had access to the Hawking's controls. It was slow going but they were making progress.

 

Then Debbie had to make her smart remark about being the "all knowing physician." Of course, Aidan wouldn't let it slide. He just had to test her. Ridire's question about Nicholas Ayers was unexpected. What was worse, Debbie answered it, correctly. She regretted it immediately. Now, she would have to explain and Debbie really didn't want to go down that road.

 

Nicholas Ayers was a long time friend of Aidan Ridire's. They'd known each other since the dark ages. But Debbie had never met Nick. It was highly unlikely she ever would. So how did she know Nick's hair and eyes were silver and that he was pretty much running the show on Starbase Aegis.

 

Debbie wished she could take back the words but it was too late.

 

"How did you know that?" asked Ridire, clearly surprised. "You must spend a lot of time reading bios."

 

Matthews drew a deep breath, frantically trying to think of what to say next. "I'm very selective about who's records I read," she replied calmly. Debbie immediately turned toward the console, her back to Ridire. That was definitely NOT the right thing to say, she told herself and then offered a silent prayer that Aidan would choose to let the matter drop.

 

But she knew he wouldn't and he didn't disappoint her. There was no one else on the bridge so he was free to press the issue.

 

Aidan turns in his chair and stares at the Doctor for a minute with a sort of bemused smile. He says "Curious. You check out the bio of a friend of mine. I'd like to know the reason why. And as you said, you're very selective on who's records you read. Perhaps I should get in contact with Nick once we get out of this situation and inform him that he has an..admirer." As he says that his voice takes on an Irish lilt.

 

He pauses for a few seconds "Of course, he's not exactly...." He cuts himself off and the smile disappears. He shakes his head slightly as he turns back to face Ops.

 

"He's not exactly what? Human?" quipped Debbie while glancing over her shoulder. "Oh he's humanoid, no doubt about it. But that's where the similarity ends." She returned her attention to the console in front of her. "Nick is El-Aurian, as you well know. And he's alone, probably forever. That's a real tragedy. Such circumstances often result in a restless psyche and Mr. Ayers certainly possesses one of those."

 

Debbie paused for a moment to check on the power transfer to the fusion engines. "I don't begrudge him his quirks. He's earned them, every one of them." She lowered her voice slightly. "If anything, I feel sorry for your friend but I guarantee you, I'm not an admirer."

 

The CMO, now "make belive" engineer, finally turned toward Ridire. "I checked out Nicholas Ayers because of you. There, I said it. Are you happy?"

 

Aidan replies without turning around "You should have just talked to me, Doctor. You had no real reason to go delving into the records of friend's of mine when it's not really going to tell you anything about me."

 

Debbie wanted to turn away but forced herself not too. She was convinced Ridire knew exactly what her motives were but was pressing her for details simply because he could. After all, he was her commanding officer. Rank has its privelges. "At the time," she explained quietly, "we were dealing with the Cairo incident." She sighed and shook her head. "You know, the nightmare that won't go away."

 

Debbie glanced at the engineering console and then looked at Ridire once again. "All of a sudden, you were trying to punch holes in the bulkheads....exterior bulkheads no less! I didn't know you very well then. It's my job to review psychological profiles when a member of the crew exhibts behavior consistent with extreme stress. You fell into that category for a time."

 

Aidan started to speak but Debbie cut him off. "There's nothing wrong with that either! We were all upset about Cairo but the loss was even more personal for you. It's just....I needed to know what to expect from you. I researched your file....yours in particular. But I also took a look at the profiles on Nicholas Ayers and....Fiona." She drew a deep breath and hoped she didn't sound too defensive. "I wasn't being nosey....I was doing my job."

 

"I looked at a lot of profiles during the Cairo mess," continued Debbie as she turned back toward the engineering console. Her voice was quiet and deadly serious. "I'm still looking at them. I don't think any of us who were aboard Reaent during that crisis will ever get over it. What's worse, now I'm paranoid about the entire crew! After what my grandfather told us, I'm genuinely concerned someone out there wants all of us to.....simply disappear."

 

He glances briefly at her and his voice takes on a darker tone "Doctor, you know it's physically impossible for a human or anyone else to punch a hole through a bulkhead. However, you are right. I was very mad and upset and I wanted nothing more then to have the ones that murdered m....Fiona before me so the least I could do to them would be to asault them. And in the darkest part of my soul, Doctor, I still do. I want them tried, broken and disposed of and I want to be there, one way or another, when it happens and I very much want to be responsible for it. You might have noticed from my records that I'm protective of those I care about. That applied to Fiona, and it applies to my family, Nick, my other friends from the Venture and the Academy...and it applies to those on the Reaent."

 

He shrugs "As for what you said about Nick, he is half-human. However, you're right. His natural lifespan is more then ours and that does color his personality, along with a few other things. He has a very complex personality that I'm not even sure I understand all the nuances of yet. But no, he won't spend forever alone but that is his biggest fear. He is more then aware of the fact that he will out live those he cares and it makes him....cautious, to say the least, about letting people close, particularly people that are more then friends or want to be. Unfortunately, Fiona never understood that fact."

 

"And even though he and I were more like brothers there were things about him I didn't know or understand. If you thought I was being...tempermental after the Cairo incident you should have seen him right after the Battle of Wolf. The only reason the Captain let him join the rescue teams was because I was the one in charge of that particular team. It was like night and day, Doctor, with the way he was then."

 

He turns to face her finally and says "Getting back to me though. I understand why you did what you did and even in some way appreciate it. And yes, it does fall under the purview of your job. However, Doctor, I was not then nor am I now going to do anything to jeopardize my ability to be there at the end when we catch the ones who destroyed the Cairo..and the ones who attacked Doctor Wero's facility. I don't know what you think about it nor do I know what the Captain thinks but I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if the ones who destroyed the Cairo and the ones who are pulling the strings in our current situation are one and the same. And no matter if someone wants us to disappear or not, Doctor, the simple fact is that I'm not going to allow that to happen. Not to me, not to you...not to anyone. It may take months, years or even longer for us to find the spider in the web, Doctor, but we are going to get to that day."

 

Debbie watched Adian Ridire as he spoke. His voice was intense yet controlled. He seemed almost calm. But his eyes gave him away. There the fire burned quite clearly. She wondered if he could mask that as well. He probably could if he chose to. He was just allowing her to see it. For a second, she even thought she might be imagining it. But she wasn't. Aidan Ridire was still seething over the Cairo's destruction and the horrific loss of life that accompanied it. He wanted her to know that. She hoped he understood that he wasn't alone.

 

For a moment, Debbie was stunned when Aidan drew a connection between the Cairo and Dr. Wero's lab. She'd wondered about that herself. She was somewhat relieved to know she wasn't the only one thinking along those lines. But the very thought terrified her. It meant Cario wasn't an isolated event. There were others disasters planned and they had no idea who was responsible.

 

Commander Ridire was still looking her, waiting for her to say something. Suddenly, she felt the urge to change the subject, to make another smart remark. Ask why Ridire reminded her it was physically impossible for a human to punch a hole in a bulkhead. She wasn't the one who tried it. He was! She also wanted to tell him she thought he might share something in common with Nick other than friendship. And that was Nick's cautious attitude toward allowing anyone to get too close. But this wasn't the time.

 

Instead, Debbie drew an inexplicable comfort from Adian's determination to protect those he cared about...his family, his friends, his crew. She had no doubt he meant every word when he said he would not allow any of them to simply disappear. She knew he would rather sacrifice himself.

 

No, this was not the time for smart remarks or idle chatter. It was time to get on with the task at hand. She offered him a small smile and said softly, "We'll have full impluse power in less than ten minutes and the nacelles will be charged in about half an hour. Let's hope we get a little luck along with the power restoration."

 

"We could use a little luck, yes." Aidan turns back to the console and calls up a display. He continues "Unfortuantely, somewhere there's a fault with the forward port-side Reaction Control thruster control. I'm hoping that the problem lies within the computer, that I can deal with." He frowns to himself as he taps commands into the Ops console.

 

In an off-hand manner he asks "Getting back to earlier...has your Grandfather learned anything new since we were at Earth?"

 

Debbie opted not to turn around as she answered. She didn't want Ridire to see her frowning. "Not really," she replied softly. "The wreckage that was once Cairo is still missing and so is Admiral Hosea. They're still searching for both, especially Hosea." She impulsively glanced around the room to confirm they were still alone. "My grandfather spoke to one of his contacts in San Francisco. The scuttlebutt is that some sort of evidence has been uncovered that indicates Hosea may not be an innocent victim. He had ties to a couple of questionable organizations. Grandpa couldn't get his contact to reveal any details."

 

Matthews paused and shook her head before continuing. "He seems to think they're ratcheting up the investigation. They're trying to be discreet about it but some of the bigwigs are genuinely concerned. He plans to keep his eyes and ears open. He'll let us know what he finds out....if he finds out anything more."

 

She noted the power readings to the fusion generator and her mood brightened. "Now for some good news....we have full impulse power."

Edited July 15, 2004 by DrDMatthews