Broken Bow - Diane Carey [47]
She didn’t respond, but turned to Phlox. “Is he fit to resume command?”
“As long as he returns for more eel therapy tomorrow.”
Archer ignored her and looked at Tucker. “How long till we get back to Earth?”
“Earth, sir?”
Was that a hint of a smile?
T’Pol turned back to them. “We’re currently tracking the Suliban vessel that left Rigel shortly after you were injured.”
Skeptical and surprised, Archer asked, “You got their ... plasma decay rate?”
“With Mr. Tucker’s assistance, I modified your sensors. We now have the resolution to detect their warp trail.”
“What happened to ‘This is a foolish mission’?”
“It is a foolish mission,” she insisted. “The Suliban are clearly a hostile race with technology far superior to yours. But, as acting captain ... I was obligated to anticipate your wishes.”
Well, well, well. Had something changed in Archer’s dreams? “As acting captain,” he echoed, “you could’ve done whatever the hell you wanted to do.”
Her cheeks flushed olive—just enough to notice—but she didn’t offer any explanations or comments on what he had just said to her.
“I should return to the bridge,” was all she said.
“Dismissed.”
Archer had more to say, but he let her go. Whatever had happened, it was hard enough on her to buck the Vulcan trend. Renewed hope surged up. He hadn’t lost the mission yet.
Trip Tucker waited until the door closed, then looked at Archer. With significance, he said, “Modifying the sensors was her idea, sir.”
Archer let his head sink back on the cushion. “Why would she do that? Go against the wishes of whoever designed her position here?”
“It just might be,” Tucker said with a twinkle, “you’re having more effect on her than they are. Whoever they are.”
“Have you and Reed found out anything?”
“She’s clean and normal right up until she gets the scholarship that put her in Soval’s office. Then, her records start getting real terse and kind of vague.”
“Could be just the logging style of that office,” Archer mentioned. “Details never were very important to Soval.”
“Or it could be a masking technique,” Tucker said. “Got to admit, I was knocked over when she decided to pursue.”
“It’s not what a spy would do, is it?”
“No ... sir, could it be she’s a spy and even she doesn’t know it?”
“If she doesn’t know it, then I don’t care one way or the other. As long as she knows who she works for here and now.”
Tucker paced around the end of the bed. “She might work for you ... except we picked up log echoes of several messages going back and forth between Soval and Admiral Forrest just before she was assigned.”
Archer narrowed his eyes in thought. “I didn’t think Soval and Forrest had that much to say to each other.”
“You think they’re up to something?” Tucker asked. “And she’s the something?”
“Or we’re the something. All of us, together. I know Forrest. He’s not likely to have me watched. If he agreed to a Vulcan plant, there must be a different reason. Completely different.”
“They wouldn’t tell you?”
“I’d be the last person they’d tell. Trip ... what do you think of this ... maybe the Vulcans really don’t know if they can be around humans and function for decades upon decades. Maybe Soval finally wants to know, once and for all, if we can exist together in hostile space and come out productive.”
“You mean they’re testing us?”
Archer thought about that, then dismissed it. “I doubt it. They know everything there is to know about humanity. All you have to do is look at history. It’s all there. We don’t hide anything, even the worst things. Humans aren’t a mystery. But ... Vulcans are still a mystery, even to each other. They don’t step out of that box very often, and they’re about to be kicked right out. It could be they’re testing themselves. And they’re using her to do it.”
“T’Pol’s the guinea pig?” Tucker blurted. “They want to see how she’ll do? I’ll be damned!”
“And it worked,” Archer said. “Her technical expertise and ability to stay cool, side by side with my irrational leaps of anger and whatever else I’ve got ... it worked. We came