Worlds in Collision by Judith Reeves-Stevens Read Free Book Online Page A

Kirk filled his wineglass and stashed the bottle beneath the shuttle again.
    â€œAre they really that bad, Jim?”
    â€œLook at them. What do you think?” Kirk gestured to the reception, so large that it couldn’t be held in any of the recreation lounges. Usually on a ship this size, there were few events that could appeal universally to all crew members. But the chance to meet some of the most brilliant scientists in the Federation was one of those exceptions to the rule. Consequently, the Enterprise was approaching Starbase Four with a skeleton operations crew. The other 385 of them were crowded onto the hangar deck with fifty bemused and delighted scientists, their assistants, and their travel companions. Only the fact that the Enterprise was warping through Quadrant Zero space, deep within the Federation’s securest boundaries, permitted such minimal crew standards. Out in uncharted space, having thirty crew members at the same gathering was considered a major event.
    â€œWhat I think is, if this were a sailing vessel, she’d capsize,” McCoy said, marveling at what was going on at the buffet line. He used to think that the security crew could pack it away. He had forgotten what university types were like when faced with free food and drink.
    â€œAnd look up there.” Kirk pointed to the starboard operations control booth eight meters above the deck. Some industrious techies had hung long strands of official UFP blue-and-white bunting from it. Ten pages of regulations would be breached by trying to launch a shuttlecraft with loose debris like that on deck.
    â€œI’m just as honored as anyone else on this ship, Bones. But why me?”
    â€œLook at the light show you’re wearing on your chest,” McCoy suggested. “It’s not as if you don’t deserve it.”
    â€œThis ship was made to be out there,” Kirk said softly. “At the edge, at the boundaries, exploring, getting these scientists the raw data they need to do their work. She doesn’t deserve to be used this way. A…a holiday liner in safe waters.”
    â€œThe nominees are valuable cargo, Jim.”
    â€œThe Enterprise is valuable, too.” Kirk narrowed his eyes at his friend. “I can see it in you, too. It’s like being in a cage, isn’t it?”
    McCoy nodded. For all his complaints and protestations, he had long ago learned that the call was in him, too. He didn’t belong in Quadrant Zero any more than Kirk and the Enterprise did.
    â€œSo what are we doing here?” the doctor asked. “Have you made enemies in the mission planning section? Or just a bureaucratic foul-up?”
    The captain smiled wistfully. “Computer error,” he said. “In which case Spock should have us heading back where we belong within the hour.”
    Â 
    The Enterprise dropped into normal space like a silent ghost, pale white and spectral against the frosty brilliance of the galactic arch. Starbase Four was thirty light-minutes away.
    â€œETA Starbase Four forty-five minutes, sir.” Chekov signaled engineering to close down the antimatter feeds and simultaneously engaged the impulse engines. Their waves of spatial distortion encompassed the ship and all its mass, setting up an almost subliminal vibration as they harmonized with the ship’s gravity generators and served to propel the Enterprise toward the starbase, without action or reaction. The transition from warp to three-quarters sublight passed without a tremor.
    In the command chair on the nearly deserted bridge, Spock looked up from his supplementary log pad. “Well done, Mr. Chekov.” He swung the chair slightly to his right. “Lieutenant Uhura, inform Starbase Four of our ETA.” Spock checked off the final procedure notation on the log.
    Behind him, Uhura, the only other officer on duty, toggled the switches that would transmit the standard approach codes. She was on the bridge to