Текст книги "Kobayashi Maru"
Автор книги: Andy Mangels
Соавторы: Michael Martin
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Andy Mangels A. Martin Michael Kobayashi Maru
“ I mperative! This is the Kobayashi Maru, nineteen periods out of Altair VI. We have struck a gravitic mine and have lost all power! Our hull is penetrated and we have sustained many casualties
Despite the layers of distortion imposed by both distance and disaster, Archer immediately recognized the English‑accented voice on the other end of the channel as that of Kojiro Vance, the flamboyant master of the S.S. Kobayashi Maru.
“ Kobayashi Maru, this is Enterprise, Hoshi said, her fingers entering commands at a brisk pace as she tried to isolate and enhance the tenuous subspace lifeline she had just reestablished. “Please confirm your position.
“Enterprise, our position is Gamma Hydra, section ten. Hull penetrated. Life‑support systems failing. Can you assist us,Enterprise? Can you assist us?
HISTORIANS NOTE
This story is set in the middle of 2155, shortly after the founding of the Coalition of Planets ( Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Good That Men Do). The fledgling Coalition was born out of the actions of Earths Starfleet, who brokered several treaties between the founding members, proving that Earth was ready to join the interstellar community (the fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise).
PROLOGUE
The Year of Kahless 781 The Klingon‑Romulan border
Y A V ANG , H O D of the Imperial Klingon Battle Cruiser SImyoH,studied the main viewer in silence, watching with fatalistic equanimity as the winged specter of death stalked ever closer.
RomuluSngan, YaVang thought, nearly overwhelmed by his feelings of contempt. Cowards, accomplishing by sabotage and ambush what they never could through honorable combat.Given the improbable pattern of malfunctions that had cascaded through virtually every system aboard the SImyoHover the past kilaan,those green‑blooded HaDIbaHcould only be testing some subtle new weapon of wara weapon that appeared to leave its targets essentially whole, yet largely nonfunctional.
YaVang was therefore unsurprised when the other vessel came to a sudden relative stop off the SImyoHs starboard bow, scarcely a thousand qelIqams distant. Despite the swirling emerald‑and‑ocher‑tinged eddies that marked the boundaries of the SuDengNebula, YaVang could see that the hostiles weapons tubes were still hot. What remained of his own crippled vessels tactical systems could detect no sign that the other ship was attempting to establish another weapons lock.
If only as much remained ofour weapons systems,YaVang thought, his fists clenching involuntarily as the moment stretched into a seeming eternity.
“Why arent the RomuluSnganfinishing us off? asked Qrad, the callow young gunnery officer who had just taken over the duties of the SImyoHs first officer, RawI Qeq, whose corpse had recently joined the many others that still lay scattered about the smoke‑filled, ozone‑redolent command deck. Despite his disconcertingly smooth forehead and his lowly enlisted rank of bekk,Qrad had commendably risen to the occasion this day.
Using the back of his gauntleted hand to wipe away a crust of congealing blood from the crisped flesh of his chin, the HoDsquinted into the main viewer. Though the attenuated cloud of gas and dust that marked the SuDengNebulas ragged edge obscured portions of the hostile vessel, there could be no mistaking the dark, threatening markings that adorned her nearly flat belly. They were the shameful stigma of a lowly carrion‑eater rather than the proud striations of an honor‑worthy predator.
“Isnt it obvious by now, Qrad? YaVang growled. “Those petaQwant to take this ship.
“But they have not yet boarded us, Qrad said as he consulted the readout on a slightly charred nearby console. “Our intruder alert system still functions well enough to confirm at least thatmuch.
YaVang nodded, grateful that not every sensor system aboard his damaged vessel had suffered the same fate as the now‑defunct autodestruct mechanism. Dealing with this treacherous adversary would have been much simpler were it still possible to blow up the SImyoHwith a single command. Or even to manually trigger an abrupt explosive release of the warp drives supplies of antimatter. Unfortunately, Chief Engineer Hojlach had jettisoned the entire supply of fuelstocks in the interests of safety after the SImyoHhad been essentially crippled by the cowardly RomuluSnganambush.
The overly cautious engineers corpse was presently tumbling through the void, following roughly the same trajectory as the precious supplies of positive Hapand negative rughparticles that he had squandered.
“Those RomuluSngan taHqeqneed not board us in order to triumph, Qrad, YaVang said. “At least, not before our life‑support system fails entirely and the cold of space claims everyone aboard this ship who yet lives. He paused, peering toward the com consoles. “Are they still jamming our communications?
“They are, sir, Qrad said, his bizarrely Terangan‑like brow wrinkling in barely contained frustration. “They must expect to simply bide their time and wait us out. They will win a cowards victory, and we can do nothing to prevent it.
An idea occurred to YaVang at that moment, like a thunderbolt hurled by one of the long‑ago slain gods of QonoS.
“Perhaps, Qrad, he said. “But we need not make it easy for them.
Even though the SImyoHs artificial gravity had gasped its last shortly after both her main and backup life‑support systems had flickered out, YaVangs combat pressure suitnow home to the only thing that still breathed aboard his vesselseemed to grow heavier and more oppressive with each passing kilaan. YaVang struggled with mixed success to avoid thinking about his asphyxiated crew, some of whom had expired in hard vacuum, the one foe that no Klingon warrior could hope to best by the batlethalone.
YaVang felt certain that he already would have joined his officers and men in death but for the dying Qrads persuasive argument that the SImyoHs commander had to remain behindaliveto surprise the RomuluSnganwhen their boarding party finally came to call in person. He clung to no illusory hopes of escape or of overcoming his enemies superior numbers. But he hoped, at least, to fall in honorable battle rather than meeting death like a spring bregitin some fetid, fear‑redolent abattoir while his foes quietly bided their time and waited him out. Only by forcing deaths hand could he hope to redeem his fallen crew members, all of whom had died as a consequence of perfidy rather than of battle wounds; they deserved seats in Sto‑Vo‑Korat the right hand of Kahless nonetheless.
And, more important, he might yet succeed in keeping his ship out of RomuluSnganhands. Failing that, he could at least make their acquisition of a Klingon battle cruiser a very expensive proposition by taking as many of the fatherless bIHnuchwith him when death finally claimed him.
As the passing kilaans accumulated until they had become a full DISone complete turning of QonoS upon its axisYaVang occupied himself by finishing his systematic destruction of what remained of the SImyoHs computer banks, rechecking the traps he had so laboriously set throughout the ship, and sitting quietly before a darkened starboard viewport, through which he studied the RomuluSnganvessel.
The enemy ship, which remained motionless with respect to the SImyoH,still showed no sign of having noticed that YaVang had dispatched his ships log buoy several kilaans ago. Using only the strength of his muscles, he had pushed the buoy out an airlock on the SImyoHs port sidewhich faced away from the RomuluSnganand set the dark, unpowered device on a slow, tumbling trajectory into infinity, away from both the SImyoHand the RomuluSnganships immediate line of sight. He could only hope that the buoys chances of being picked up would prove somewhat better than his own chances of survival. Otherwise, no songs would be sung of what was about to happen here this day. No statues would be raised in his honor, or ships marked with his name.
After having waited an entire DISfor them to make their move, YaVang felt only relief when the green‑blooded scavengers pounced at long last. The reverberating clangor of external grapples engaging and hull‑penetrating breach pods fixing themselves to the ships exterior demonstrated that the taHqeqhad finally decided it was safe to come aboard. As YaVang stood in the cruisers relatively narrow boom section, roughly equidistant between the bulbous forward command deck and the wide engineering section that lay aft, he could only wonder whether or not his pressure suits stealth functions had obscured his presence from the boarders sufficiently to allow him to surprise them, or if they had detected his stubbornly persistent lifesigns through his suit and decided that he didnt pose enough of a threat to warrant waiting any longer.
Whichever way the RomuluSnganhad done the math, YaVang was determined to teach the enemy a very painful and very sanguinary lesson about the foolishness and lethality of overconfidence.
YaVang heard a muffled explosion that momentarily rang the hull like a bell, followed almost immediately by another. Fallen bits of conduit that lay in the corridor shifted in the induced breeze, which was swiftly stanched by the harsh clang of a fast‑closing emergency bulkhead. Hull‑breaching charges, he realized, fore and aft. He reflected contemptuously upon the exaggerated sense of caution of the boarders, who were clearly unwilling to risk transporter ingress to a vessel whose internal configuration was no doubt still largely unfamiliar to them.
It willremain unfamiliar to them,he thought, raising the long‑barreled disruptor pistol he clutched in his vacuum‑gauntleted right hand. So long as air remains in this suit, and breath in my lungs.
A swiftly moving shadow cast against the ships dim emergency lighting suddenly drew his attention aft. The approaching partys booted footfalls echoed loudly through the otherwise silent vessel, the sounds seeming to originate in the direction of the engineering section, from which the most recent explosion had sounded. His training instantly taking over, YaVang flattened himself against one of the narrow corridors walls and watched as the initial shadow lengthened and resolved itself into multiple shapes, all of them vaguely humanoid. A pressure‑suited figure stepped directly into view, immediately followed by at least two more.
Arm raised, YaVang stepped forward abruptly and fired. The foremost of the approaching raiders doubled over the fireball that suddenly threw him backward into his fellows. The Klingon maintained a merciless fusillade, taking full advantage of the element of surprise.
He heard a footfall behind him and whirled toward it. The sudden heavy impact against his chest threw him supine to the deck an instant before he felt the fierce heat penetrate the charred front of his pressure suit.
RomuluSngan disruptor,he thought as he realized that his own weapon had somehow slipped from his grasp, no doubt because of the ungainly bulkiness of his gloves.
Despite the tumult of running booted feet all around him, YaVang noticed that the hum of his helmets air circulation system had ceased. That meant that his final signal had been transmitted. The dead‑man switch was to engage either when his suits life‑support system failed, or the moment his lifesigns ceased to register upon the suits internal monitors. The trap he had so laboriously set over the past DIShad been sprung at last.
And the motherless carrion‑eaters had done it themselves.
The deck shuddered and rattled as the individual charges, adapted for their current purpose from the SImyoHs armory, began detonating in series throughout the battle cruisers superstructure. Within but a handful of lup,very little of the ship would remain intact, to say nothing of the misbegotten muqaDwho had dared to try to take her.
YaVang bared his teeth in a warriors grin as several RomuluSnganconverged upon him from both directions, their weapons raised and poised to fire once they all had gotten out of one anothers line of fire.
The deck plating sheared away beneath their boots and YaVangs back.
Freefall. Airless space penetrated YaVangs body like countless icy blades. His last breath rasped in his chest like dry leaves, and he methodically emptied his lungs, just as his training demanded.
The Klingon captain awaited death calmly. Today, after all, was indeed a good day to die, for he had prevented a hated enemy from acquiring one of his peoples mightiest battle cruisers intact. And he also may well have booked passage for himself, as well as for his entire crew, aboard the Barge of the Dead, bound for eternal Sto‑Vo‑Kor.
But even as tumbling debris and oblivion took him, he wondered what fate might befall his beloved Empire the next time a treacherous, dishonorable attack such as this one were to occur.
After all, whatever else the contemptible RomuluSnganmight be, they were nothing if not tenacious.
ONE
Thursday, May 22, 2155 Enterprise NX‑01
“A DMIT IT , J ONATHAN . Youre already at least as bored with this mission as I am.
Unable to deny his fellow NX‑class starship captains assertion, Captain Jonathan Archer smoothed his rumpled uniform and leaned back in his chair with a resigned sigh. Porthos, whom Archer had thought was fast asleep behind him at the foot of his bed, released a short but portentous bark, as if voicing agreement with the woman who looked on expectantly from the screen. Archer turned away from the lone desktop terminal in his quarters just long enough to toss a small dog treat to the beagle, who immediately became far too preoccupied with the noisy business of eating to tender any further opinions.
“My feelings really dont matter all that much, Erika, Archer said to the image on the terminal. “And frankly, neither do yours. This was Starfleets call to make, not ours.
From across the nearly six‑parsec‑wide gulf of interstellar space that currently separated Enterprisefrom Columbia,Captain Erika Hernandez punctuated her reply with a withering frown. “All right. Who are you, and what have you done with Jon Archer?
His lips curled in an inadvertent grin. “Im just an explorer, Erika. I dont make policy. And I dont like babysitting Earth Cargo Service freighter convoys any more than you do. But youve got to admit that there havebeen enough attacks on the main civilian shipping lanes over the past few weeks to justify keeping Earths two fastest and best‑armed starships out on continuous patrol, at least for a while.
She shook her head slightly. “Maybe. But not indefinitely. And certainly not if youre interested in treating the underlying disease instead of just the symptoms.
Archer couldnt really disagree with that either. The past six weeks of mostly uneventful patrol duty, spent endlessly covering the same roughly twenty‑light‑year stretches outbound from Earth, followed by a virtually identical inbound course which intermittently brought Enterpriseand Columbiatogether from opposite directions, put him in mind of the ancient Greek myth about a man whose misdeeds had earned him the divine punishment of rolling a huge boulder up a hill, only to have to repeat the process endlessly after reaching the summit and seeing it roll down again. Archer sometimes half‑seriously considered asking Starfleet to send the new NX‑class starship Challenger,still under construction in the skies above San Francisco, to relieve himafter rechristening it Sisyphus,of course.
But he knew better than to think that either he or Captain Hernandez could do much to change the minds of Admirals Gardner, Black, Douglas, Clark, Palmieri, or any of the rest of Starfleet Commands determined brass hats. After all, each of them had shot down essentially the same argument Erika was making today when Archer had first brought the topic before them weeks ago.
“We still dont have any hard proof that the attacks against our freighters are anything other than exactly what they appear to be, Archer said. “The work of rogue pirates and freebooters.
“Thats probably only because those alleged rogue pirates and freebooters have been keeping us both so busy waiting and watching, not to mention wearing a triangular groove in the space between Earth and Draylax and Deneva, that we havent had any time to go hunt down thereal culprits.
“The Romulans, Archer said.
She nodded, confirming that he had completed her unvoiced thought. “Or the Klingons. Or maybe even both. The disruptor traces we found on the hull debris are consistent with either of them.
“As nasty as the Klingons can be, my moneys on the Romulans, Archer said.
Her eyes widened. “Why? You know something I dont?
He nodded. “Is this line secure on your end?
“I trust my mother and God, in that order,she said with a nod of her own. “Everybody and everything else has to go through the most stringent of security protocols. Go ahead.
He paused to gather his thoughts. From the edge of the bed, Porthos released a low growl that almost made Archer wonder if his own dog wasnt spying on him on behalf of Admiral Gardner.
“The attack on Coridan has overshadowed just about everything else thats been going on in a dozen sectors in every direction, Archer said at length.
“Thats understandable. Over a billion people have died on Coridan Prime so far, and people are still dying there three months later thanks to all the environmental damage, not to mention the damned civil war theyre fighting. Have you found some evidence linking the Romulans to the Coridan attack?
“No, he said with a glum shake of his head. “The Romulans are way too subtle to leave any fingerprints behind.
She frowned again. “So why bring up Coridan?
“Because Starfleet has been able to use it as a diversion to keep a lid on something we discovered on Andoria a little bit before the Coridan attack. The admiralty has classified my report on the subject. But in my judgment you have a legitimate need to know what theyve been sitting on these past few months.
Hernandezs brow furrowed. “Youve found evidence of some sort of Romulan incursion on Andoria?
“Indirect evidence. But its as close to a smoking gun as youre going to get with people as slick as the Romulans. Youve been briefed about their use of telepaths to pilot remote‑controlled attack ships, right?
“Of course. I know that you and your crew destroyed a telepath‑guided Romulan prototype last year.
“Right. But what you haventbeen told is that the Romulans have recently been trying to get their hands on more telepaths for similar military applications, using the services of third parties brokered through Adigeon Prime.
A look of understanding crossed her olive features. “The Adigeons. Gotta love those tight‑lipped Swiss banker types.
“Believe me, the Adigeons make the old Swiss bankers look like the village gossip. In spite of that, we managed to track down and rescue about three dozen Aenar‑Andorian telepaths that a third party had captured on behalf of the Romulans.
Hernandezs face became a study in horror. “Enslaving all those people. Just to launch another remote‑control attack against us.
“And theyre not going to back off, either. Not when they can just lie in the weeds and wait until theyre ready to try again.
The horror on Hernandezs countenance slowly solidified into an almost palpable anger, and her words carried the timbre of blood and fire. “And youre content to let Starfleet just go on reacting instead of actuallydoing something?
Archer endured her not‑so‑subtle criticism with all the stoicism he could muster. “What makes you think Im not doing anything?
“Lets see. Maybe its the fact that youre still out here patrolling the boonies, just like I am.
“Lets just say Im working on the problem through a back channel and leave it at that.
“I know you have political pull that I dont, since youre the man who saved Earth from the Xindi. But I cant believe youve got a special back channel with Starfleet Command that I dont evenknow about.
Archer grinned. “What makes you think I was talking about Starfleet Command? Their hands are full at the moment just keeping the Coalition from collapsing into four squabbling pieces, especially since the Coridan attack.
“Unlike either of us,Hernandez said as the door chime sounded.
“Be careful what you wish for, Erika, Archer said, even though he was half hoping for news of another so‑called pirate raid, if only to break up the tedium of the past several days of utterly fruitless patrolling. He held up a hand for silence, then turned toward the door.
“Come.
The door hissed open and Commander TPol stepped gingerly over the slightly raised threshold, then paused in the open hatchway. She wore a standard‑issue, dark blue Starfleet duty uniform, a sight to which he was still only beginning to become accustomed, though she had adopted it nearly three months ago. To the Vulcan womans credit, she appeared as comfortable and unself‑conscious wearing Earths service attire as she had in the somewhat more formfitting uniform of the Vulcan military from which she had retired over a year earlier. Despite the lateness of the hour, her clothing looked fresh and neatly pressed.
“I apologize for disturbing you, Captain, but I have received some news that you will wish to hear immediately, she said, still hesitating in the open hatchway. She glanced toward the image of Captain Hernandez, which was clearly visible from her vantage point. “Am I interrupting anything?
Archer smiled gently at his second‑in‑command. Long before their respective careers had conspired to draw them literally light‑years apart, there had once been a time when anyone “walking in on him and Erika Hernandez might indeed have interrupted something rather intimate. Had Hernandez, who had never been sanguine about making love in Porthoss presenceand was allergic to pet dander to bootnot issued a fateful its‑me‑or‑the‑beagleultimatum, the lives and careers of both captains might have taken radically different trajectories. Only very rarely, such as that time his canine companion had become fragrantly flatulent after snarfing up an entire wheel of Chefs fancy Gruyиre cheese, did the captain have cause to regret his decision. Regardless, fair was fair, and since hed known Porthos longer than hed known Hernandez, the dog had ultimately won the contest.
Remaining in his chair, Archer fanned the fingers of his left hand toward himself in a “come in gesture. “Not at all, Commander. Im sure you know Captain Hernandez.
TPol finished crossing the threshold and allowed the hatch to hiss closed behind her just as Porthos jumped off the bed and approached her, his tail wagging. “Captain Hernandez, she said, nodding toward the screen and apparently ignoring the dog.
“Good to see you again, Commander,said Hernandez. “TPol and I met on Earth a couple of months ago, Jon. While you were busy panicking about your speech at the Coalition Compact signing ceremony.
Archer nodded, recalling the extremely jangled state of his nerves on that recent red‑letter day. Facing the adoring crowds, the legions of media cams, and the all‑seeing eye of history that day had made him more anxious than the prospect of fighting off whole phalanxes of Klingons or Xindi. Hell, he might have welcomed a firing squad as a dignified alternative. He scarcely remembered what hed said, and later had to refer to the recordings of his words to reassure himself that hed not made a complete ass of himself. So it came as no surprise to him that there were small gaps in his memory regarding matters peripheral to the speech itself.
He tried not to think about what the two women might have said about him behind his back while hed been fumbling through his speech; he preferred to believe that the Vulcans standoffish sense of propriety would have brought a certain decorum to the conversation. But given the uncharacteristically casual manner in which TPol now bent down to scratch the insistently expectant Porthoss headthere had been a time when her acute Vulcan sense of smell would have driven her very quickly from the beagles presencehe couldnt assume his first officer would always hew to the Vulcan cultural stereotypes.
“What do you have for me, TPol? Archer said, deciding that getting right to business was the best possible diversion. “Any new piracy incidents to report?
TPol straightened and Porthos quickly withdrew with a muted whine, his tail drooping in evident disappointment at the commanders failure to toss him a snack. “Not to my knowledge, Captain.
Archer felt both relieved and disappointed. “Then I suppose its too much to hope that Starfleet has finally seen the light about the futility of this wild goose chase were on?
“If you mean to ask whether Starfleet Command has finally acceded to your request to permit Enterpriseto conduct an independent investigation of the recent attacks on Earth Cargo Service vessels, Im afraid the answer remains no.
Still seated, Archer felt his shoulders slump in resignation. “So we keep rolling the damned rock up the hill and back down again.
“Sir? TPol said, her right eyebrow raised inquisitively.
“Never mind, Archer said, waving his hand as though wiping his words off an imaginary blackboard. “Lets hear your report.
“Do you want me to close off the channel, Jonathan?said Hernandez, reminding him that she could hear whatever his first officer was about to tell him.
He glanced in Hernandezs direction momentarily before fixing his gaze back upon TPol. “Not unless theres some security concern Im not aware of. TPol?
TPol approached the desk and addressed Hernandez. “Unless Im mistaken, Captain Hernandez, you have the same security clearance as Captain Archer. And the same need to know, since this may well impact upon your duties as well.
Hernandez grinned. “Well, dont keep us in suspense, Commander.
TPol nodded. “Minister TPau has just sent us a response to your request for assistance with ourpredicament out here in Earths shipping lanes.
Archer felt his spirits buoying, however cautiously. “How many Vulcan ships can she send to reinforce us?
TPol shook her head almost sadly. “None at the moment, unfortunately. Vulcans military resources are still stretched somewhat thin because of the Coridan relief efforts, and that situation is unlikely to change soon. However, Minister TPau has made an urgent request of her own.
Archers brow furrowed. “Of us?
“Of the United Earth government, the United Earth Space Probe Agency, and the Coalition of Planets Security Council, TPol said, sounding almost pleased. “Minister TPau is well aware of Starfleets insistence that Earths fastest ships be kept on continuous patrol along the shipping convoy routes. She agrees, however, that Starfleets time and resources would be put to better use trying to reach the true root of our current piracy problem. As, incidentally, do I.
Archer grinned. “Your support is anything butincidental to me, TPol. Especially now. With his old friend Trip Tucker still officially listed as killed in the line of dutyand therefore unavailable as a sounding board for the foreseeable futureArcher had come to depend on his first officers input more than he ever had before.
“Well, its nice thatsomebody on high agrees with the three of us,Hernandez said. “Its just too bad that Minister TPau really cant do a lot of effective arm‑twisting inside Starfleet, or in Earths government.
Archer shrugged. “Granted. But Im betting that wont matter as much as her influence over the Coalition Council.
“Indeed, said TPol, nodding. “While she cannot order anyone outside the Vulcan government to do anything, Minister TPaus sway with the other Coalition Security Council members is considerable.
“Do you think shell come to Earth to address the Counciland make our case for us?Hernandez wanted to know.
TPol shook her head. “Minster TPaus present duties overseeing the rebuilding of the Vulcan government and the Coridan relief efforts will keep her away from Earth for at least another few weeks.
“A lot can happen out on the Romulan front in another few weeks, Archer said, his earlier rising arc of hope now sliding inexorably into a downward parabola of despair.
“True, TPol said. “However, under the Coalitions parliamentary rules, the authorities of every member world must consent to meet with any surrogate that Minister TPau appoints to speak before the Security Councilso long as whomever she nominates is willing to do so. The ministers only question is whether or not youare willing to serve as that surrogate, Captain Archer.
Archer allowed a smile to begin spreading very slowly across his lips before he answered. “And not even Admiral Gardner himself can stop me.
“Not unless he wishes to commit a direct violation of the Coalition Compact, TPol said. “What should I tell the minister?
Archer did a few quick back‑of‑the‑envelope calculations in his head. Enterprisewas on the inbound leg of this latest iteration of her Sisyphean journey, three to four days out from Earth at maximum warp, as near as he could figure.
“Tell her Ill be on Earth just as soon as Enterprisecan get us there, he said. “And with bells on.
One of TPols eyebrows launched itself skyward again. “Respectfully, Captain, I would recommend a more dignified choice of apparel. However, I will advise Minister TPau of your decision. And I shall instruct Ensign Mayweather to make best speed for Earth. With that, she turned back toward the door and exited, leaving Archer alone with the subspace‑transmitted image of his fellow starship captain.
“Vulcan, Jon? Thats one hell of a back channel. Not exactly part of the officers manual.
His smile widened into a broad, triumphant grin. “When have you ever known me to stand on ceremony, Erika?
She beamed at him. “Nowthats the Jon Archer I know. By the way, I hope youll accept my apology for implying that you might have been replaced by some sort of overly complacent shape‑shifting alien monster.
“No offense taken, he said, returning her grin at a comparable wattage. “It was just your frustration talking anyway.
