phil jones2 Page 24

  'After your ejection from the Captain's chair it was Captain Darwin who insisted upon taking command of the vessel until his own could be towed and repaired.' he stated, and the view screen showed a silent video of Darwin heckling the crew over some perceived fault. 'As you can imagine this change of command was met with disapproval from all aboard, and a series of near-catastrophic failures ensued under his leadership.' the way he said the final word gave no doubt as to what Smith thought of Darwin's ability to lead anything short of his own two feet.

  The viewscreen provided Phil with a series of images that featured the crew sprinting away from angry-looking mobs of varying hue, their fearful expressions at odds with the confident grin plastered over Darwin's face. Smith continued speaking. 'Mission after mission, failure after failure and a leader who was oblivious to personal criticism in any way. It was soon after that the crew realised there needed to be a change of command. Lieutenant Annika was insistent on petitioning Grand Admiral Burroughs but she was turned down and Darwin was made aware of the claims.'

  Phil stared over at Annika, who certainly looked like she wasn't appreciating having to re-live that particular memory.

  'Upon realising that he had lost the confidence of the crew, Captain Darwin's false confidence began to show cracks. He became increasingly demanding in the lead up to the negotiations with the Voravians and sadly there was nothing we could do short of mutiny that would prevent him from making an ass of himself.'

  'So you actually mutinied and got rid of the Captain?' Phil asked, finding it hard to believe that Smith was capable of such a thing.

  'If you would let me finish Captain, I will inform you of what transpired.' Smith replied tetchily, not appreciating the interruption. 'As I was saying, the negotiations were forthcoming and we made an agreement to get rid of the Captain. Unfortunately one of us, who shall remain unnamed...' Smith stared directly at a wilting Ensign Hawkins at this point in his speech. '...decided that we should give the Captain one more chance at the negotiations before usurping his control over our vessel. The negotiations were less than successful.'

  'What went wrong?' Phil asked, noticing the gap in events.

  The crew looked around themselves, none of them speaking.

  'Was what he did really that bad?' Phil persisted, asking the entire crew of the cockpit simultaneously.

  Nobody said a word and the silence reigned until Smith repeated himself. 'The negotiations were less than successful, Captain Jones. Please just leave it at that for the time being.'

  'So he blew the negotiations, what happened then?'

  Agent Smith offered him a pained look but didn't chastise him any further for interrupting his briefing. 'Upon negotiations breaking down we were forced to flee Voravian space, our ship couldn't escape the attentions of one of their battle cruisers. We devised the scheme of giving them what they wanted, and determined that hostilities would cease if we ejected Darwin out of the escape hatch.'

  'You ejected the Captain out of the escape hatch?!'

  'Mr. Jones, please!'

  'Sorry.' Phil mumbled.

  'Thank you. We did not eject the Captain out of the escape hatch, instead he suggested that we rig a decoy. We ejected him after he threatened one of the members of the crew.'

  The image of Darwin's murderous face was broadcast on the viewer, causing Phil to recoil in his seat somewhat in shock. He had a gun levelled a RJ's head, and the man was staring at him with a calmness that was equally unnerving.

  'He tried to shoot you!' he exclaimed at RJ, only to be glared at by Smith. 'sorry.'

  'As I was saying, Captain.' Smith continued smoothly. 'Our former Captain became somewhat erratic in his actions once the time for negotiations had passed. As the head of security I could not allow him to endanger any of the crew.'

  'I'm touched, Smith.' RJ quipped.

  '...no matter how much I dislike said member of the crew.' Smith continued, probably glaring under those shades of his. 'It was an almost unanimous decision from the crew to bring you back on board in a command capacity.'

  'Almost unanimous? Who voted against me?' Phil asked, staring at the eyes of each of the members in front of him and searching for any sign of guilt or malevolence. He couldn't imagine any of them turning against him, not after what they'd gone through before.

  'Doctor Samej voted against reinstating you into command. He...' Smith faltered somewhat, choking on his own derision. 'He was most insistent that we promote a cheesecake to the position of Captain, but refused to explain why.'

  Phil's brow rose in a fair imitation of his security officer. 'A cheesecake? Why?'

  Smith shrugged, and his tone left no further explanation required, clearly Doctor Samej was next on the man's airlock list.

  'So you came back for me and rescued me from Star Command, who presumably heard from Darwin that you had gone rogue, correct?'

  'A flawless deduction, Captain Jones.'

  'I still have one question...'

  Smith sighed. 'Yes, Captain?'

  'Why did you pick up Terry on the way? What has he got to do with the Voravians or Star Command or any of it?'

  'I believe that you may have answered the question for us.' Annika replied, just as Smith started to respond. 'You know this man from before?'

  'Well... not from before.' he replied, realising that Annika was referring to his initial adventures. 'I kind of got to know him after I got back here, he was my personal trainer for a time.'

  Smith let out a derisive snort.

  'And a very good personal trainer too!' Phil rounded on him. 'He had me doing all sorts and never asked for an explanation.'

  'So this Terry character didn't have any previous know-how of your situation?' RJ asked, speaking over the top of Smith and preventing the man from continuing.

  'Well yes, he knew nothing about the Voravians or Star Command or any of it, but he claims he was abducted.'

  'It would appear that Star Command were even more desperate that I suspected when it came to making sure you did not return to your command chair, Captain Jones. I suspect that while this may have been authorised by them it would most likely be Hanniman and the Human Genome Project that had plans to suppress you at all cost. Most interesting.'

  'What is interesting about it, Agent Smith?'

  'Well Captain Jones, ordinarily they would not go to such measures as to interrogate those around a subject given that knowledge of Star Command and the Project are on a need to know basis. Clearly they were trying to glean information from your associate that they lacked. This Terry character may hold the key to something very specific in the future that the Project and consequently Star Command fear.'

  Phil stared at him blankly.

  'What Smith is trying to say Captain is that this buddy of yours is important in ways that they don't know, and it's the not knowing that scares them.'

  'How can you tell that just from their going after him?' Phil asked, noticing that for once RJ hadn't made matters any clearer.

  'We tracked their Agents as they descended to Earth, thinking that they were after you alone. When we discovered that the target we had rescued was not you we were able to deduce that there was something of value in acquiring this man in addition to saving you.'

  'What Smith is trying to say is that they wouldn't go after him if he wasn't important. They'd just interrogate him then brain wash him.' RJ simplified.

  'So we have to figure out why they were after Terry and prevent them from taking him back?'

  RJ nodded. 'That's the long and short of it.'

  'How do we do that?'

  'Firstly Captain Jones we must plot a course into Voravian space, away from the clutches of all but the furthest patrolling Star Command vessels. This will give us time to determine what to do next and formulate a strategy while they are otherwise occupied.'

  'Otherwise occupied? Is there something else I don't know?'

  'As a result of the botched negotiations, Captain, well... The Voravians have decla
red war sir.' Annika supplied.

  'And where is it you want us to fly into again?'

  'Voravian Space, Mr. Jones.' Smith intoned, as if explaining to a child.

  'Where all the Voravians are?' Phil asked, noticing that the entire crew looked on edge about this deduction.

  'Affirmative, Captain.' RJ replied. 'Shall I set the coordinates in now?'

  Phil took a deep breath, partly in expectation of the safety harness and partly in fear of things to come.

  'Let's do this then.' he stated in as authoritative a voice as possible, feeling lost without the glove and not entirely sure what 'this' was.

  The blue-purple haze of hyperwarp jumped up to greet them again and they shot off into Voravian space.

  It all went horribly wrong shortly after that.

  Chapter 36

  Cocktail! Phlegm! Negotiations!

  Staring out into the hyperwarp bubble that surrounded the ship, Phil paced about his quarters and didn't have a clue what to do now.

  It wasn't the first time he had excused himself from the cockpit, and thanks to the lack of glove on his hand it certainly wouldn't be the last either. Without the subtle power of it stuck upon his hand he just seemed to pull a blank in the situations where previously he could lead with conviction.

  The thing had been a real nuisance, and he couldn't wait to get it off as he had previously gone hurtling from one death-defying situation to another. What had been a nuisance when sat in his apartment had become a begrudging life-saver and he had no doubts that he wouldn't be here without the glove's intervention. Then again, he wouldn't be here if the glove hadn't landed on his hand in the first place. Stupid thing.

  Now that he was stuck on this craft, with no way back to Earth and nothing but the dangerous reaches of unknown space ahead of him, the cramping sensation upon his hand as the glove urgently tried to impart something to him seemed less of a burden.

  He stared at his pale hand, flexing the small fingers and wondering where the glove was now, if it had detached from him only to plague a new unwitting user or whether it had slipped away into a retirement of sorts. He pictured the glove lying on a sunny beach somewhere in a deck chair with shades and a cocktail, then shook his head and resumed affixing his uniform.

  It was strange, ordinarily he was never so thoughtful or introspective, yet when he pulled on the uniform or strode about the ship his mind was afire with self-reflection brought about by anxiety. Even now he was reflecting on his self-reflection in a way that would have been previously drowned in a monstrous bowl of cheese doodles and a large bottle of coke. Was it the anxiety that this place bred within him? Some dusty remembrance of flight or fight that had kicked in when he had been shot and whisked away from the planet?

  Shaking his head, he pulled down upon his Captain's uniform even though it was perfectly tailored and considered heading back to the cockpit to see if dressing for the part would help him play it any better.

  A familiar chime came from the computer, he had company.

  'Enter.' he stated wearily, hoping it wasn't someone informing him that the Voravians were about to blast them to pieces.

  The doors slid open and Annika stepped in, causing Phil to stop pacing and gulp.

  'Hello.' he said, realising that he'd never heard Picard say that to his subordinates before.

  'Captain.' Annika replied, inclining her head slightly. 'I was wondering if I could have a minute of your time to talk.'

  Phil shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 'Sure, why not. We're not under attack from a Voravian battle cruiser or anything yet then?'

  Annika glided over to the sofa and seated herself, Phil tried his best not to watch her doing so and remained standing. 'There's no attack yet, Captain. Should I alert security of your suspicions?'

  'What? No. I just... It seems we're always running or fighting or doing something, this quietness unnerves me.'

  She laughed at that, causing his heart to somersault inconveniently. He knew that it would look a bit odd for the Captain of the ship to run out of his own quarters so he remained rooted to the spot.

  'I actually like the quiet, Captain. When I was a young girl the trading ships used to be nothing but quiet and silence and I hated it, but working with Star Command has made me appreciate every moment there aren't laser blasts arcing toward us.'

  Phil nodded, not entirely sure why she was telling him all this and failing miserably to devise an escape route through the bulkheads.

  'Is it hard, Captain?'

  He misunderstood the question for a minute, crossing his legs slightly, then realised he had no idea what she was talking about. 'I... er... Is what hard exactly?'

  'Going back to all this after having returned home to Earth?'

  'I guess so. I didn't really have that much of a life on Earth to be honest. Permission to speak freely?'

  Annika arched an eyebrow. 'You're the Captain sir, you don't have to ask for my permission to do anything.'

  Phil gulped reflexively. 'Yes, good point. It's just I'm terrified that without being the glove-wearer that I'm going to mess up horribly in this command position and doom everyone.'

  His Lieutenant beckoned him over with a hand and he slumped miserably on the space-age couch that didn't feel any different from any other sofa that had experienced the misfortune of his posterior.

  'You were the glove-wearer, and yes you are no longer the glove-wearer, but you are still our Captain, our leader, our hero.'

  Phil blinked. 'Hero?'

  Annika smiled and nodded encouragingly. 'You saved all of us from certain death on multiple occasions, without your efforts none of us would be here today.'

  'That was just the glove though, that wasn't me at all. Without it I'm just some big dumb idiot that still doesn't have a clue about what he's doing no matter how much he prepares.'

  'That's not true!' Annika exclaimed sharply, causing him to sit up. 'So the glove may have helped you on occasion, but was it really speaking to you all the time?'

  'I suppose not.' admitted Phil.

  'Then who was responsible for saving us when the glove fell silent?'

  'Me. You're right. It was me.'

  'You're damn right I'm right!' Annika said loudly, a steel entering her voice that brooked no argument. 'You don't understand how terrible life under Darwin was for the crew, how awful he was in comparison to you and all the equally awful mistakes he made. It wasn't the glove, it was you.'

  'What does Darwin taking control of the ship have to do with the glove?' Phil asked.

  'That's not important now.' she replied, brushing the question aside. 'What's important is that you realise just how great a Captain you were for us and that it wasn't the glove that made that a reality, it was who you are.' she poked him in the chest plate repeatedly as she uttered those final words with a conviction he rarely saw outside of religious zealots.

  'What was it that Darwin did that was so terrible? Smith wasn't very clear as to why we are now at war with the Voravians.'

  Annika sighed, but thankfully stopped poking him. 'The man is the biggest and most dangerous buffoon I've ever met. Trigger warned us all about how awful he was going to be, but we didn't realise he was going to be that bad.'

  'What did he do?'

  'To us or the Voravians?' she asked.

  'Why not both?'

  She sighed again, it seemed to Phil that he was very good at making his crew sigh of late. 'They were most angered by the Captain's attempt at diplomacy, I believe I should probably tell you the whole incident.' Annika finally said. 'It was an important diplomatic mission of great strategic value...'

  'This is an important diplomatic mission of great strategic value!' the unnerving wobbling disembodied head of Admiral Burroughs informed the crew. 'I cannot afford any of you to hinder Captain Darwin's attempts at brokering a continued peace between our two nations.'

  'Pardon me for asking sir.' RJ cut in to the silence that ensued. 'Wasn't our Captain here one of the folks behind the whole V
oravian gambit to test the glove in the first place?'

  Burroughs made a noise akin to a walrus in heat submerging itself in phlegm, this silenced RJ more out of shock than anything else. 'You are out of line, pilot! While it is true that Darwin was involved in the Voravian mock-up that offended their empire's leaders, their intelligence doesn't know that. Captain Darwin is a shrewd negotiator with a distinguished career and I couldn't think of anyone better on this planet to deal with the threat of a potential war. He shall fan the flames and they shall like it!'

  The last words made RJ thankful that the spittle flying out of the Admiral's mouth was only digitised. He thought he caught the sound of Smith sighing near the weapons console but it was so discreet that he couldn't tell for certain.

  Darwin was glaring at him now, he could feel the heat of the man's gaze on his back. 'If you interrupt the Grand Admiral again I shall ensure that you never pilot anything above a garbage bucket. Understood?'

  'Yes sir.' RJ replied through ground teeth. 'My apologies Admiral, carry on.'

  'Grand Admiral!'

  The sigh from Smith was audible then, RJ resisted the urge to turn around and punch the Captain.

  'Aye sir, Grand Admiral he is.'

  'And what is it that you are saying to the Grand Admiral?'

  'My apologies, Grand Admiral sir, please do carry on.'

  'Quite a lot of riff-raff you've got on board that ship, good show of discipline that man!' spluttered Burroughs as if he had just suffered a snorkelling mishap. 'I have complete faith in the abilities of Captain Darwin. Simply follow his lead when you make contact with the Voravian convoy and all shall go according to plan. Burroughs out.'

  RJ had seen Darwin's record, so the Grand Admiral's faith was mystifying. Anyone with a set of eyes should have been able to glean that it was Agent Smith that had pulled the man's toes out of the fire each and every time. The man was a walking disaster, an evolutionary mishap that had somehow managed to rise to the rank he had through bluster and completely unfounded bravado. Then again it seemed like the Grand Admiral saw a lot of himself in Darwin too.