Free By the Book by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch Page A

sense before we leave here."
    "Thank you, sir," Reed said.
    Archer nodded absently. He was no longer thinking about the southern continent. He was thinking about the first contact. If it took another day or another week, establishing some sort of contact with the Fazi would be worthwhile to Earth. Or maybe just to him. Leaving things as they were was not acceptable.
    Captain's log.
    Dealing with the Fazi has gotten me to think about protocol, a word I have never liked. T'Pol told me when this began that we needed to establish a protocol for first contacts. Part of me agrees.
    If we'd had a protocol, I might not have rushed into first contact with the Fazi. I must admit that Ensign Hoshi and Subcommander T'Pol warned me about moving too quickly, and I did not heed their warnings. I am hoping that my mistake of speaking out of turn with the Fazi will be correctable, as soon as we discover how to do so. But I can see that dealing with this culture is going to be as frustrating at times as dealing with the Vulcans.
    But I'm not sure how much a protocol would have helped. The Fazi's protocols prevented them from interacting with us at all. If we're too regulated, we might miss the adventure. I can't permit that.
    Perhaps guidelines might be the answer-isuggestions without the sting of regulation. I'll talk to T'Pol about the subject later.
    On another, related topic, I have also been considering what might happen when we do establish relations with the Fazi. At that point, how much should I tell them about the greater universe beyond their system? And what technology, if any, should I share with them? On this topic I know how the Vulcans feel. And I know how I feel about how the Vulcans held Earth back for so long.
    But I worry that the Fazi, with their strict regulations and their need for structure, might find all this information disruptive. I certainly don't want to be the one to damage their native culture.
    Everything about first contact seemed so clear when we left Earth. Now nothing does.

ELEVEN
    For the second night in a row, Cutler had forgone her Vulcan broth. This time, she'd eaten the vegetable salad the chef had made to go with the stew. The stew did smell better than it had a few days before and she had been tempted, but she hadn't eaten any. Visions of microbes still danced in her brain.
    Visions of the failed Fazi first contact danced in everyone else's. Mayweather had described what he'd seen to everyone who had asked. Now he seemed tired of it. Or maybe the entire experience had been so discouraging he didn't want to discuss it anymore.
    He had been the one to suggest continuing the game. Cutler had thought no one would want to play after the day's events. After all, there was a real-life adventure going on around them. But the captain had ordered more study, and no one was going back to the planet for a while.
    Diversion, Mayweather had said, was just what they needed.
    The mess hall still had a dozen or so crewmen in it as Cutler spread out the towel she had brought to cushion the sound of the bolts on the hard tabletop. Novakovich had brought fresh coffee for everyone at the gaming table, and as he set it down, he grinned.
    "Expecting a long night, crewman?" Cutler asked.
    "Expecting to find part of a Universal Translator, sir!" he said crisply.
    She raised her eyebrows in amusement. "We'll just have to see about that."
    She took her coffee cup and set it on the table behind her. The last thing she wanted was to spill on the bolts. The red dye she used might be water soluble. She hadn't checked.
    "Everyone remember where we left off?" she asked.
    Mayweather nodded, holding up a painted bolt. "You know we could figure out a way to put dice together."
    "The bolts are working fine," Anderson said. "I like the weight of them in the cup before it gets dumped."
    "Weight?" Novakovich asked. "Why? Does it make the decision seem important?"
    "Naw," Anderson said. "It just serves to remind me that we're always down to