Double Helix 06_ The First Virtue - Michael Jan Friedman [70]
“But that was all your doing,” Crusher insisted. “If you hadn’t read the Indarrhi’s mind and discovered what Thul was doing, we would still be on square one-or worse.”
Tuvok arched an eyebrow. “I would not have had the opportunity to read the Indarrhi’s mind, as you put it, if you had not led us to Mendan Abbis. Had we proceeded as I wished, we might still be in The Den drinking what passes there for alcoholic beverages.”
The commander couldn’t challenge the Vulcan’s statement. After all, Tuvok was right.
“Your methods were … unorthodox,” the ensign allowed. “However, our mission was an unqualified success-and as Surak himself once said, it is illogical to argue with success.”
Crusher shrugged. “Surak… ?”
“The visionary leader who introduced the philosophy of logic to Vulcan. He was nothing if not practical.”
Then something else occurred to the human. “What about Grace?” he asked. “I didn’t do her any favors, did I?”
“You took calculated risks,” Tuvok conceded. “But you did not force her to take them with you. You simply made the opportunity available to her. I believe she would thank you for that, if she were able to.”
Crusher’s throat constricted. “Maybe.” He peered at his companion. “Anyway, thanks for saying so.”
“No thanks are required,” the ensign assured him dispassionately. “I am merely stating the obvious.”
The commander sighed. “Well, maybe I needed to hear the obvious as stated by a Vulcan.”
Tuvok considered the possibility. “Perhaps you did,” he said.
In the dark brown depths of the Vulcan’s normally implacable gaze, Crusher could have sworn he saw a flicker of warmth. It was gratifying to know that he had helped put it there.
“So,” the human said as they streaked toward their rendezvous with the Stargazer, “tell me about your kids.”
Thul considered his viewscreen, where the Cordracite fleetyard sprawled across several kilometers of orbital space. He wondered if he had ever seen a more lovely sight.
There they were… a hundred or more Cordracite vessels, from the powerful Predator Class warships with their sharp and unattractive angles to the quicker, more delicate-looking Racer Class reconnaissance vessels. They hung in space as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
The governor savored the moment He scanned each vessel in turn, deriving pleasure from its vulnerability, delighting in the knowledge that it wouldn’t be there much longer.
Finally, he turned his attention to the cavernous dry-dock facility, where various ships were in the process of being repaired or upgraded or simply maintained. His intelligence reports had told him there were more than two hundred Cordracites manning the station.
And none of them had registered the Thallonian’s presence. After all, Thul’s ship was outside their rather primitive sensor reach. His intelligence reports had enlightened him in that area as well.
“Activate the magnetic-pulse envelope,” he said. “Then move into their sensor range. Full impulse.”
“Full impulse, my lord,” his helmsman confirmed.
On the viewscreen, the fleetyard gradually loomed larger. The governor smiled. He was enjoying this immensely.
To this point, it was his agents alone who had planted the seeds of chaos in which his empire would take root. Finally, the Thallonian had an opportunity to plant some seeds of his own.
There was something exciting about that, something that appealed to the aggressor in Thul. It was the same instinct that had raised him from his modest origins to the leadership of a large and important colony.
“My lord governor, we have entered the Cordracites’ sensor range,” his navigator announced crisply.
Thul nodded. Any moment now, he told himself.
Nakso, his comely communications officer, turned to him. “My lord, the Cordracites are hailing us.”
Ah, there it was… the first challenge. The governor sat up straighter in his chair. “Put it through,” he instructed Nakso,