her? The admiral chuckled.
"I really don't know why you seem so surprised, Ensign," said the Admiral. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with your mind and all of the background information you've had to absorb for your dissertation means that you're actually about as well informed about Meridian and the Islamic Alliance as anyone."
"Um ...Thank you, Sir."
"This is your chance to silence your detractors, Ensign. Are you interested?"
"...Meridian Ambassador...Islamic Alliance...Naval liaison...,' she mumbled, eyes slightly glazed as she ran through some of the implications in her mind before her eyes refocused on the Admiral, "Count me in, Sir."
"Great !" said Loftgren. "You need to get ready to leave immediately. You are to report to the Asimov at or before 2000 hours tomorrow night."
The admiral looked at her and nodded his head gravely. "I'm glad you've agreed to take on this assignment, Ensign. It represents a golden opportunity for you. I also must emphasize that this is an extremely important mission. The level of unrest has reached crisis proportions in many regions of human space. In an effort to calm things down, the Ambassador is hosting an interdenominational meeting with a dozen or so of the most powerful religious leaders and politicians in the Santana Quadrant. These diplomats and their mission are vital to the interests of the Federation and the Islamic Alliance, not to mention continued peace. The conference is scheduled for the day after you get to the Santana Nexus Station. I suggest you use your time in transit to study up on each of the leaders and the politics they embrace. Don't let us down."
Carlisle gulped.
"I...I'll do my absolute best, Sir."
"I've no doubt that you will, Ensign. There are a couple more things."
Carlisle looked up expectantly.
"You were ordered to surrender your wrist computer before your final examination. In spite of the importance of these people, or maybe because of it, there's way too much sensitive information on that wrist computer for us to risk sending it back out there with you. Since you've accepted this assignment, we are not going to be able to return it to you."
Carlisle's eyes grew wide as she involuntarily looked at the empty spot on her left wrist. The wrist computer and its vast libraries of information and other unique capabilities had helped her and her companions to successfully get through their ordeal out in the Scrapyard and later, on the New Ceylon Orbital Station. She would be lost without it."
" No need to look so down, Ensign. The Ambassador has graciously agreed to provide you with another wrist computer, an even later model. They'll have it loaded with information about Meridian and the Islamic Alliance that will be necessary for your assignment."
"New Ceylon…ship inventory…But, Sir, what about all the ship schematics and all the other related material? As far as I know, my computer contains the only backup of the current inventory of the New Ceylon Reclamation Center."
"The engineering department has prepared a download that contains most of the information you had, minus anything that they deem too sensitive. You are to make a copy and then give the chip to the Federation Commander at the Santana Nexus Station. She will get the information out to New Ceylon on the next courier."
She looked at the Admiral and nodded silently.
"Remember, Ensign, this conference is important. Without it, we may very well wind up at war in the very near future. A briefing of what you'll need to know about the religious leaders and the information on the Scrapyard, along with most of the schematics you had on your wrist computer, are on this memory chip. You can review it while in transit to your new assignment."
Carlisle stood up and numbly accepted the chip.
"On a more positive note, Ensign, we have decided to allow you to keep your prototype command spacesuit. They're going to produce the suits in just about the same conformation as the one you have,
"I really don't know why you seem so surprised, Ensign," said the Admiral. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with your mind and all of the background information you've had to absorb for your dissertation means that you're actually about as well informed about Meridian and the Islamic Alliance as anyone."
"Um ...Thank you, Sir."
"This is your chance to silence your detractors, Ensign. Are you interested?"
"...Meridian Ambassador...Islamic Alliance...Naval liaison...,' she mumbled, eyes slightly glazed as she ran through some of the implications in her mind before her eyes refocused on the Admiral, "Count me in, Sir."
"Great !" said Loftgren. "You need to get ready to leave immediately. You are to report to the Asimov at or before 2000 hours tomorrow night."
The admiral looked at her and nodded his head gravely. "I'm glad you've agreed to take on this assignment, Ensign. It represents a golden opportunity for you. I also must emphasize that this is an extremely important mission. The level of unrest has reached crisis proportions in many regions of human space. In an effort to calm things down, the Ambassador is hosting an interdenominational meeting with a dozen or so of the most powerful religious leaders and politicians in the Santana Quadrant. These diplomats and their mission are vital to the interests of the Federation and the Islamic Alliance, not to mention continued peace. The conference is scheduled for the day after you get to the Santana Nexus Station. I suggest you use your time in transit to study up on each of the leaders and the politics they embrace. Don't let us down."
Carlisle gulped.
"I...I'll do my absolute best, Sir."
"I've no doubt that you will, Ensign. There are a couple more things."
Carlisle looked up expectantly.
"You were ordered to surrender your wrist computer before your final examination. In spite of the importance of these people, or maybe because of it, there's way too much sensitive information on that wrist computer for us to risk sending it back out there with you. Since you've accepted this assignment, we are not going to be able to return it to you."
Carlisle's eyes grew wide as she involuntarily looked at the empty spot on her left wrist. The wrist computer and its vast libraries of information and other unique capabilities had helped her and her companions to successfully get through their ordeal out in the Scrapyard and later, on the New Ceylon Orbital Station. She would be lost without it."
" No need to look so down, Ensign. The Ambassador has graciously agreed to provide you with another wrist computer, an even later model. They'll have it loaded with information about Meridian and the Islamic Alliance that will be necessary for your assignment."
"New Ceylon…ship inventory…But, Sir, what about all the ship schematics and all the other related material? As far as I know, my computer contains the only backup of the current inventory of the New Ceylon Reclamation Center."
"The engineering department has prepared a download that contains most of the information you had, minus anything that they deem too sensitive. You are to make a copy and then give the chip to the Federation Commander at the Santana Nexus Station. She will get the information out to New Ceylon on the next courier."
She looked at the Admiral and nodded silently.
"Remember, Ensign, this conference is important. Without it, we may very well wind up at war in the very near future. A briefing of what you'll need to know about the religious leaders and the information on the Scrapyard, along with most of the schematics you had on your wrist computer, are on this memory chip. You can review it while in transit to your new assignment."
Carlisle stood up and numbly accepted the chip.
"On a more positive note, Ensign, we have decided to allow you to keep your prototype command spacesuit. They're going to produce the suits in just about the same conformation as the one you have,
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