The Long Night by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch Read Free Book Online Page B

that time in the commander's chair, issuing terse orders, and staring through the viewscreen at the vastness of space.
    He had taken a small maintenance crew with some of his best people, most trusted people. If there was any hint that this crashed ship was the Nibix-and Sisko believed in a small corner of his heart that it was-then only those he trusted could know. The six ensigns he picked were all known for their attention to duty and their closed-mouthedness. They had few close friends and were not known as gossips. He rounded out the rest of the Defiant's crew with Dax because she knew more about the Nibix than he did, O'Brien because he was a whiz with not only Federation technology, but any other technology Sisko had seen, and Dr. Bashir because... well, Sisko didn't want to examine that because.
    The red-star system they were heading to was nothing but a number on the star charts. The system had been lightly surveyed eighty years earlier and was noted only for its large concentration of asteroids in four wide belts around the star. There were no known habitable planets. The system was near the Cardassian border but still clearly in Federation space, a fact for which Sisko was greatly relieved. If this ship really was the Nibix, he would have more than enough on his hands with the Jibetians and the Federation. He didn't need to be dealing with the Cardassians at the same time.
    Throughout the voyage, Sisko kept his right hand clenched. It was the only physical sign of his tension. Occasionally Dax would glance at him. Her normal unshakable calm had a giddy edge beneath it. For most of the ensigns, this was their first official mission on the Defiant. They concentrated on their stations, pretending that Sisko's presence didn't make them nervous.
    Only O'Brien and Dr. Bashir were acting normal. They were standing to one side on the bridge, watching the viewscreen and arguing over a game of darts they had played earlier in the afternoon. They had no idea what they were about to walk into.
    Sisko did. And he was having trouble thinking about it. Every commander he had ever met and certainly every starship captain knew the space legends about lost ships. Most captains also knew the legends about lost seagoing vessels on various worlds, from the disappointing treasure vaults on Earth's Titanic to the immense wealth discovered on Seleda Five's G. Menst. Sisko's favorite seagoing legend showed his Earth roots. The Marie Celeste haunted his dreams and his nightmares in more ways than he imagined: a ship that was found with its stoves still on, a meal half eaten, and a missing crew in the middle of the ocean.
    He half imagined he would find that here.
    But his favorite spacefaring legend, his favorite what-if, had always been the Nibix. From the moment he had heard about the ship at the Academy, he had studied every book about it, every article ever written, listened to every theory. He still had a capture file in his personal computer on DS9, so that any time a new theory was discussed on the Nibix, his file would download it, translate it if necessary, and notify him it had arrived. He had several other capture files for several other interests, including baseball, and he had been so busy with the station in recent months that he let material accumulate.
    Now he wished he hadn't.
    As they neared the system, Sisko stood. He couldn't contain his excitement or his nervousness any longer.
    "Dropping out of warp," said Ensign Dodds. She was a soft-spoken human woman whose small stature belied her physical strength. Sisko had sent her on two other missions, one to Bajor, and her competence had impressed him.
    "Chief, I need you in position now," Sisko said.
    O'Brien nodded and moved to one of the empty stations. Dax sat before the science station, her long fingers playing on the panel. Sisko resisted the urge to do the same. He would not give in to his romantic fantasies. He would command this mission like any other.
    "I want full