Book Report

Posted on Tue Sep 13th, 2022 @ 5:16am by Captain Devin Hadenbeer

1,668 words; about a 8 minute read

Admiral Kathryn Janeway released Marcie's leash, the Irish Setter with her tail wagging trotted over to and too her place on the couch. Janeway made for her desk as she sipped her morning coffee and lifted the appointment padd. She had a fair idea what her schedule entailed, but sometimes an item was added by-

She frowned and touched the comm stud on her desk, "Daillee, I noticed I have an appointment squeezed in later this morning. Is this...Boothby? As in the Academy gardener?"

"Yes, Admiral," her assistant replied, "He requested five minutes of your time in person. The request was so unusual and he was insistent it was 'very important', and, well, you had the time available…”

Her curiosity fully aroused, Janeway replied, "Very well, then. I think I can spare a legend five minutes…”

The various duties seemed to cause time to drag for Kathryn as she waited for her unusual late morning meeting. At last the appointed time came and when the chime went off Janeway informed Daillee to let the man enter as she rose from her seat. Boothby strode in, wearing a muted gray suit that looked decades out of date and might have only been worn twice in his lifetime. For all that he strode in confidently, with...four Academy cadets in tow.

Four Vulcans, two males, two females, who all looked quite reticent in their nature.

"Admiral Janeway," Boothby said with a polite nod and smile, "It is an honor, sir."

"And a singular pleasure for me, Mister Boothby," Janeway replied with a broad smile, "I do not think I ever heard of an instance when you left the grounds."

He shrugged, "Only for funerals and the odd crisis. And this crisis is particularly odd, I think. These four," he waved to the Vulcans, "Are Skauk, Volk, Straras and Stalul," he turned to the cadets, "I got that right?"

The first Vulcan-Skauk-nodded solemnly, "You did, sir."

"Fine, wonderful. You have four minutes. I am going to sit over hear on the couch and get acquainted with the dog."

Bemused, Janeway watched as Boothby took a seat and proceeded to spoil Marcie with attention. He even had the foresight to bring along some sort of treat.

"Admiral," Skauk stated. Apparently he was the spokesperson, "May we begin?"

There weren't enough chairs so Janeway remained standing; it was only for four minutes, after all, "You may."

"Our classmate, Dare Hadenbeer-"

"Oh, no..."

"...Your pardon, Admiral?"

"I...nothing," Janeway rubbed her temple and closed her eyes, "Just...please continue."

"Very well. Cadet Hadenbeer approached us with a request to read four books, works of fiction."

Janeway glanced at Boothby, who replied without pausing in scratching Marcie behind the ears said to her unspoken question, "It will make sense as things move along, Admiral."

Skauk continued, "The works featured a protagonist that bore a resemblance to cadet Hadenbeer. But this was not the reason for her request as a lieutenant Klarth on board Lionheart-"

"Wait," Janeway cocked her head, "Is...cadet Hadenbeer on board Lionheart?"

"She is, Admiral."

Janeway grimaced, "All right, continue, cadet."

"Another book had been written, this time with a character apparently based upon Doctor Klarth, a being known as ‘Targ’ who had lost their honor and sought to regain it by performing selfless acts of heroism. Cadet Hadenbeer had been enlisted by the doctor to discover more about this author, and it was believed studying the books might provide some clue to their identity. We were requested to examine this author’s first four books to find 'anything unusual'."

"Did you?"

"We did," Skauk held out a padd, "We realize how important your time is so we have provided you with salient portions and annotations of the fourth book where, as some might say, things grow...interesting."

Janeway gave a curt nod of understanding as she accepted the padd. She scrolled through the passages and was about to ask a question for clarification, when she spotted the annotation that provided an answer. She smiled briefly; no one could fault the cadets' eff-

Her smile abruptly faded. Slowly she sat down and continued to read. She read it a second time to make certain she had not missed anything.

"At the risk of insulting your intelligence," she said slowly as she regarded the four, "For the record, save for your annotations each and every word here is from the fourth book. There has been no alterations whatsoever to the text."

"None, Admiral," Skauk replied. Glancing at the others, he turned back to Janeway, "And no insult was taken. We...understand the unusual nature of these events and can appreciate your doubts. We would have preferred some means to verify the data this book implies, but we so no means to do so. So..."

"So they came to me," Boothby said from the couch, Once I read the passages I knew you had to know, Admiral."

Janeway nodded. To the cadets she asked, "Is cadet Hadenbeer aware of your findings?"

"No, Admiral. We...were in some disagreement as to whom should be informed first."

"You made the right choice, although I understand if you feel conflicted on that score. I am going to need to order you to keep these findings secret a little longer. If any instructor makes any inquiries regarding this visit or it's nature you can truthfully tell them an admiral ordered you to stay quiet and they can direct any and all queries to my office," she gave a ghost of a smile, "For all the good it will do them. You are dismissed with my thanks, gentlemen and ladies. I will take it from here."

The four cadets nodded their heads politely and filed for the door, Janeway noticed that while Boothby rose he did not join them. As the door opened he said, "I'll see you four on the grounds later," he smiled, "Everything will be fine,” once the doors closed the smile disappeared and Boothby regarded Janeway.
“Things aren’t fine at all, are they?”

Withou answering Janeway touched the comm, "Gaillee, get me in touch with DeSoto and cancel my lunch, tell him a bomb just landed on my desk and I have to defuse it,” she paused and added, “Perhaps word that differently; I don’t want him to take me literally.”

Without another word she turned the master display on her wall and manipulated it, bringing up the Triangle. She called up data on ships in the area.

"Admiral, what are you doing?" Boothby asked.

"I am looking for a ship that can kill a Chariot class," she replied. Problem is they are nimble, doughty things. And in Hadenbeer's hands..."

"You don't know that she is going to fight."

“…but most of her staff is not yet loyal to her….and she has a pack of freshly minted ensigns…”

“That you will be throwing in harm’s way if you choose to fight.”

Janeway spun and regarded him, "You know something, Mister Boothby. Tell me. Now."

Boothby grimaced, "I met Captain Hadenbeer on the grounds two years ago. She was seated along a garden path and looked...conflicted. Depressed. Her niece was going in to the Academy but it was more than that; she had some sort of weight on her shoulders, a problem she said she couldn't share with a member of Starfleet. Not even me because I would be morally obligated to tell someone."

"And this didn't raise any red flags for you?" Janeway inquired mildly.

"Hadenbeer said it posed no threat to the Federation or Starfleet."

Janeway held up the Skauk's padd, "Well it most certainly does!” she held up her free hand, “Mister Boothby, I respect you a great deal. I do not want this. I do not want to expose Devin Hadenbeer to the shame of a court martial nor do I want to put lives at risk. But she decided she knew better than Starfleet’s Admiralty and a hundred years of precedent and policy.”

Boothby shrugged and gave a rueful nod, “Well, you are right, that does sound pretty arrogant.”

He paused at the door, “But you know, Admiral, just because she has the entire admiralty and a hundred years of precedent stacked against her it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s wrong. I hope you find a way to bring her and her people in without firing a shot.”

Janeway stared at the closed door a long moment, the only sound was Marcie’s tail thumping against the couch cushions. Kathryn resisted an urge to go over and pet the dog; lords knew she would find herself spending an hour doing that! Instead she returned her attention to the tactical board. Lionheart had a means of escape no other Starfleet vessel possessed. She had to be taken completely by surprise. She could not see the attack coming…

The idea struck Janeway like a phaser bolt. She reached back and touched the desk com, her eyes scanning the board for what she needed…There! Yes!

“Gaillee, call Ambassador...Damn, what’s her name? Rol…Rul…”

“Rrolvrax, Admiral? Ambassador Rrolvrax? Are you sure?”

“Not in the least, Gaillee. Get her on the line. I know I’m jumping over some diplomatic heads but I need to move quickly. Tell her we have no time to waste and this is an emergency.”

“Admiral, normally diplomatic channels-“

“Will be brought into the picture after I explain the situation to the Ambassador. Now Gaillee.”

Janeway switched off the comm and made some mental calculations as she took note of some of the vessels marked on it. The diplomatic corps was going to be mad as hell and so were quite a few Starfleet Admirals. And she imagined not a few other officers would be looking askance at her for some time.

However, she thought as a sad smile crossed her lips, if her plan went through there were going to be hundreds of Klingons singing her praises quite soon…

 

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