Enigma - Michael Jan Friedman [59]
After they were all out, they pushed the lid back into place and reset the locks. That way if an alien entered the bay, he wouldn’t think anything was amiss. To discover that, he would have to open the container.
But the aliens might not do that for some time. And by then it would already be obvious that someone had slipped aboard the warship—because the team had either escaped or been killed for their trespass.
“Remember what we talked about,” said Ben Zoma. “We move quickly and quietly. And we stay alert.”
They all nodded by way of acknowledgment. All except McAteer. Asserting his rank, he said, “Let’s go.”
As the admiral moved off, Ben Zoma gestured for Chen to stay close to him. After all, someone had to.
They didn’t find any door controls at the cargo bay’s exit. But then, they didn’t need any. The doors opened automatically, giving them access to the corridor.
It was narrow and dimly lit. In accordance with Paris’s instructions, they went right, their phasers at the ready. But they didn’t run into any opposition.
When they reached the lift it opened for them, just as the doors to the bay had. After they piled into the narrow compartment, barely fitting their entire team, there was a tense moment when it seemed the door might not close.
But eventually, it did. And a few moments later, it opened again, giving them access to the floor above. Again, the corridor was empty. Ben Zoma thanked whatever fate had seen fit to smile on them and led the way to the node.
It looked exactly like the one they had accessed on the drone. In a matter of seconds, Horombo had it open and had begun the downloading process.
They all listened for approaching footsteps. But there weren’t any. At least, for the time being.
Above all else, Picard hated waiting. And yet, he had done more of that than anything else in the last couple of days.
At the moment, he was doing his waiting in his ready room. He was going over reports from helm, weapons, engineering, security, even medical—assurances that everyone would be ready when the battle got under way. And that would have been fine, except he had gone over the reports twice already.
There was simply nothing left to do. Nothing but watch the stars and wait for the enemy to emerge from among them.
The captain was pleased when he heard the chime that told him someone wanted a word with him. If nothing else, it would serve as a break in the monotony.
“Come,” he said.
It was Wu. And judging from the vaguely troubled look on her face, she had just come from another visit with Lieutenant Ulelo.
“Anything new?” Picard asked.
“Nothing,” she replied. “Unfortunately. All I’m doing is making him more agitated with all my questions.”
“Perhaps you should let up for a while.”
“Perhaps,” she allowed. “Or perhaps I should push even harder. I just don’t know.”
It wasn’t often that Wu allowed herself to express uncertainty. The fact that she had chosen to do so now was a measure of how very difficult her assignment was.
But the captain couldn’t imagine giving it to anyone else. “You will figure it out,” he said. “I know you will.”
The second officer smiled. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
“It is well founded,” Picard assured her.
At least she didn’t have to go over reports for the third time. Of everyone on the Stargazer, Wu was the only one who still had an unfinished assignment.
He almost envied her.
Ben Zoma and his team had been downloading information from the aliens’ data node for almost three minutes when McAteer clapped Garner on the shoulder.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“I’m not finished,” the security officer told him.
“Yes, you are,” said McAteer.
“But, sir—” Garner started.
The admiral raised a hand to cut her off. “I don’t think it’s wise to push our luck, Lieutenant. We need to get out of here before we’re discovered.”
Garner obviously disagreed, but it wasn’t her place to say so. Instead, she looked to Ben Zoma.
“There’s a lot more data to be gathered,” the first officer pointed out, keeping