Star Trek: Duty, Honor, Redemption by Vonda N. McIntyre Page A

centimeters shorter, compact, fair, manic, and quick-tempered.
    “Thanks, Carol,” Vance said. He smiled.
    Jedda folded his arms. “I trust this means my data is safe for another day.”
    “Safe and sound.”
    The deepspace communicator signaled, and he went to answer it.
    Carol stored the Genesis subroutine again.
    “Ok,” the computer said, and a moment later, “Command?”
    Carol breathed a sigh of relief, “Load Genesis, complete.”
    A moment’s pause.
    “Ok.”
    “And run it.”
    “Ok.”
    “Now,” Carol said, “we wait.”
    “Carol,” Jedda said at the communicator, “it’s Reliant. ”
    She got up quickly. Everyone followed her to the communicator. Jedda put the call up on the screen.
    “ Reliant to Spacelab, come in Spacelab.”
    “Spacelab here, Commander Chekov. Go ahead.”
    “Doctor Marcus, good. We’re en route to Regulus. Our ETA is three days from now.”
    “Three days? Why so soon? What did you find on Alpha Ceti VI?”
    Chekov stared into the screen. What’s wrong? Carol wondered. There shouldn’t be any time lag on the hyper channel.
    “Has something happened? Pavel, do you read me? Has something happened?”
    “No, nothing, Doctor. All went well. Alpha Ceti VI checked out.”
    “Break out the beer!” Del said.
    “But what about—”
    Chekov cut her off. “We have new orders, Doctor. Upon our arrival at Spacelab, we will take all Project Genesis materials into military custody.”
    “Bullshit!” David said.
    “Shh, David,” Carol said automatically. “Commander Chekov, this is extremely irregular. Who gave this order?”
    “Starfleet Command, Doctor Marcus. Direct from the General Staff.”
    “This is a civilian project! This is my project—”
    “I have my orders.”
    “What gold-stripe lamebrain gave the order?” David shouted.
    Chekov glanced away from the screen, then turned back.
    “Admiral James T. Kirk.”
    Carol felt the blood drain from her face.
    David pushed past her toward the screen.
    “I knew you’d try to pull this!” he shouted. “Anything anybody does, you just can’t wait to get your hands on it and kill people with it!” He reached to cut off the communication.
    Carol grabbed his hand. Keep hold of yourself, she thought, and took a deep breath.
    “Commander Chekov, the order is improper. I’ll permit no military personnel access to my work.”
    Chekov paused again, glanced away again.
    What’s going on out there? Carol thought.
    “I’m sorry you feel that way, Doctor Marcus,” Chekov said. “The orders are confirmed. Please be prepared to hand over Genesis upon our arrival in three days. Reliant out.”
    He reached forward; the transmission faded.
    On Spacelab, everyone started talking at once.
    “Will everybody please shut up! ” Carol said. “I can’t even think!”
    The babble slowly subsided.
    “It’s got to be a mistake,” Carol said.
    “A mistake! Mother, for gods’ sake! It’s perfect! They came sucking up to us with a ship. ‘At our disposal!’ Ha!”
    “Waiting to dispose of us looks more like it,” Jedda said.
    “David—”
    “And what better way to keep an eye on what we’re doing? All they had to do was wait till practically everybody is on leave, they can swoop in here and there’s only us to oppose them!”
    “But—”
    “They think we’re a bunch of pawns!”
    “David, stop it! You’re always accusing the military of raving paranoia. What do you think you’re working up to? Starfleet’s kept the peace for a hundred years….”
    Silence fell. David could not deny what she had said. At the same time, Carol could not explain what had happened.
    “Mistake or not,” Vance said, “if they get Genesis, they aren’t likely to give it back.”
    “You’re right,” Carol said. She thought for a moment. “All right, everybody. Get your gear together. Start with lab notes and work down from there. Jedda, is Zinaida asleep?” Carol knew that Zinaida, Genesis’s mathematician, had been working