Enigma - Michael Jan Friedman [29]
“I do,” said the captain.
“And where is Ulelo now?”
“In the brig—where he will remain, at least until we determine the truth of the matter.”
“See that he does,” said Mehdi. “In the meantime, I’ll alert the rest of the fleet that our adversaries may know our ships as well as we do.”
Obviously, he wasn’t happy about the prospect. However, he also wasn’t blaming Picard for it.
“Now,” said the admiral, “I have even more reason to wish you good luck. Medhi out.”
As the older man’s visage faded from the screen and was replaced by the Federation insignia, Picard sat back in his chair. He felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach.
He felt personally responsible for the Ulelo situation. He had been content to accept the notion that the com officer was out of touch with reality, and that his actions had ultimately been harmless.
Now, it appeared, Ulelo’s actions might have consequences after all—deadly ones. For all the captain knew, the lieutenant had placed the entire Federation in danger.
And Ben Zoma’s team on the shuttlecraft was as vulnerable as anyone. If something had happened to the Antares, the Livingston might be next.
Picard felt an urge to go after his people, to reel them in. But Mehdi’s instructions didn’t leave him much wiggle room. He was to look for the Antares—period.
“Picard to Idun Asmund,” he said, making use of the ship’s intercom system to contact his helm officer.
“Aye, sir?” came the response from the bridge.
“We are altering course.” And he gave her the coordinates he had received from Mehdi.
“Acknowledged,” said Idun.
Next, Picard summoned Wu and Greyhorse, in order to discuss Ulelo with them in more depth. Then he contacted Paxton and apprised him of their orders.
“Send a message to the shuttle,” said the captain, “and let Commander Ben Zoma know what is going on.”
“Of course, sir,” said Paxton.
Picard sat back in his chair. Before long, he assured himself, the Livingston would be headed for the nearest starbase—McAteer wouldn’t brook any other course of action. Then the shuttle would remain there until the danger had passed.
That was by far the most likely course of events. Of course, there were other possibilities—grimmer ones—but there was no point in the captain’s worrying about them.
Especially when he suddenly had so much else to worry about.
Ben Zoma was going over the shuttle’s latest sensor reports when he heard someone forward of him swear under his breath.
Looking up, he saw Horombo shaking his head over the com panel, where Ben Zoma had stationed him. The security officer was obviously unhappy about something.
Joining him, Ben Zoma said, “Something wrong, Mister Horombo?”
Horombo unfolded himself from his chair and pointed to his subspace message monitor. “Take a look for yourself, sir.”
Sitting down in Horombo’s place, Ben Zoma inspected the monitor. There was a message from Captain Picard on it. As the first officer read it, he came to understand why Horombo had reacted as he did.
By then, they had drawn the attention of the rest of the crew. “What’s going on?” asked McAteer, voicing the question that must have been on all their minds.
Ben Zoma turned to him. “Apparently, a couple of our ships have been attacked and boarded.”
The admiral’s eyes narrowed. “Which ones?”
“The Cochise and the Gibraltar,” said Ben Zoma. “And the Antares isn’t responding to hails, so there’s a possibility she was attacked as well.”
“The Gibraltar?” asked Chen.
“That’s right,” said the first officer.
Chen swallowed, and didn’t say anything more—but Ben Zoma knew why the security officer had asked the question. He had a brother on the Gibraltar.
McAteer looked as if he had consumed something rotten. “Who attacked them?”
“No one knows,” said Ben Zoma. “Which is why the Stargazer has been dispatched to conduct a search for the Antares—so we can get some answers.”
Garner’s brow knit above the bridge of her slender nose. “If the Antares is missing, and the Stargazer is on a mission to find her…”
“Then we’ve got no one with whom to rendezvous,