Rogue Galaxy, Episode 1: The Captain and the Werewolf Read Online Free PDF Page A

was a smart move, although she did wonder if the captain was doing it as a way of making peace with Beach, or of forcing him to be the one who had to deal with the mess.
    Once alone in the lift, both Blaine and Farraday released breaths they hadn't known they were holding, in sudden explosive bursts of air. They each caught the other's eye and laughed.
    “Are you also going to Deck Three, Captain?” asked Blaine. She had a bad feeling he was planning to go look for “Jennifer” in the Tubes, himself; if it was inappropriate for the XO to endanger herself that way, how much more so for the captain?
    But he shook his head, regretfully, as if he wished he could go. “I don't think I'd be much use there—you, Miller, and your people can handle things on that end. I'm going to Sickbay, to see if Dr. Carlson and Witch Walsh can think of some way to revert a werewolf back to her normal state, without getting her out of full-moon range.”
    Blaine knew perfectly well that there was no other way, and the captain did too. Yet he was standing there with a straight face, almost calmly, as if he really believed it might be possible.
    She reached out and hit the “Hold” button, bringing the lift to a halt. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
    Farraday looked annoyed, but not surprised. “We're in a hurry, Blaine....”
    “Yes, sir, I know. But you know what might happen if the werewolf—”
    “If Lieutenant Summers.”
    “With all due respect, sir, if the werewolf does damage in the Thompson Tubes.”
    “All the more reason to get this lift moving, Commander.”
    “Sir. Given the risk, you know what Lieutenant Summers would want us to do.”
    Farraday's expression showed no anger, but only because every muscle of his face was held rigidly still. “Unfortunately, she's not able to tell us, right now.”
    “She'd want us to blow the Tubes, sir. Expose them to vacuum.”
    For an instant she thought he was going to strike her, but his arm shot past her to hit the “Release” button. “Enough of that, Commander,” he growled, unable to even look at her.
    “Sir, permission to speak freely?”
    “Denied.”
    “Sir, if that thing sharpens its claws on the wrong circuitry, we could lose all ftl capacity, or just blow up, or blow up and leave a sorcerous afterglow that'll make this system a Bermuda Triangle for unsuspecting ships for the next million years!”
    “You and Miller better get her out of there, then. Without forgetting she's your comrade.” The lift came to a halt and its doors slid open to reveal Deck Three. Blaine stepped out reluctantly.
    She turned to make one last point. But the doors slid shut in her face, and the captain was gone.
    She turned around. Her people were there, waiting for her and her instructions.
    “All right,” she said, “let me tell you guys what you need to do....”
    They walked to the Tubes' entrance as she talked; her top assistant, Chief Marquita Blackmon, looked at her in surprise as Blaine started to cross the threshold into the Tubes along with them. “Ma'am?” said Blackmon. “If there's more you need to tell us, we could hang back a minute....”
    “No, I'm done. But I'm going in with you—I need to speak to Commander Miller.” To hell with protocol.
    “Ma'am, if you've got a message, we'll be happy to deliver it. It's too dangerous in there for you to....”
    “Thank you, Chief, but it's something I need to tell him in person. Won't take long.”
    The Security escort Miller had left for the Engineering people was even more opposed to letting her in the danger zone, but a harsh glare from Blaine quashed their objections. They followed a thin plastic wire that led to Miller, who was unspooling more of it as he progressed through the Tubes; its other end was held by the sentry at the Tubes entrance. That was how Miller would be keeping track of all his people as they fanned out through the Tubes; all the teams could communicate with each other via Morse code by