Have Tech, Will Travel (SCE Books 1-4) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [116]
The official conclusion from the investigation following the incident was that the system’s designers had not adequately foreseen the radical physiological differences encountered in the wide variety of life forms in this region of the galaxy. Having read the report that the Magistrates had sent along with their message, Nostrene considered the findings to be ludicrous. How could scientists of such caliber create a revolutionary nonlethal weapon, designed for use against all manner of species, and not take into account the biological varieties inherent in such an attempt? It was incomprehensible to him, though it was an opinion he doubted he would ever share with anyone else.
In this particular case, the “radical physiological differences” encountered had been Klingon, and not even a military target, but instead a civilian agricultural colony. The Empire had been furious to learn of the settlement’s destruction, swearing vengeance on those who had been slaughtered. The true nature of what had happened had never been discovered by anyone, and the Magistrates had kept it that way all this time.
“Only now, the secret is threatening to be revealed because of the Starfleet engineers,” Taghrex concluded, absorbing what his commander had told him with degrees of awe and uncertainty.
Nostrene nodded. “During their investigation, the surveyors of the colony discovered that one of the generation system’s emitter arrays was missing. We now know that the Federation ship currently trapped in the rift took it. Reports did place the vessel in that part of space. They must have come across the colony, investigated it, and found the destruction wrought by the web generator.”
“And since Federation scientists like to study everything in painstaking detail,” Taghrex said, “they took the emitter array with them, having no real idea as to what it was they carried.”
“And they remain ignorant, it seems,” Nostrene replied, knowing that it had fallen to him to take maximum advantage of that ignorance in order to protect the Assembly’s interests.
He knew that the political ramifications of the next few moments went far beyond the simple angering of the Klingons. While the Empire might very well respond with hostility to the news, the Assembly could ill afford to alienate the Federation at this time. Diplomatic relations had reached a critical juncture, and the Magistrates feared that negative repercussions from any revelations made here today could put the Federation into a difficult position. They could well be forced to choose between their alliance with the Klingons and the progress they had made with the Tholians. It was not difficult to believe that any decision would not be in the Assembly’s favor.
Avoiding such a predicament seemed the only logical choice to make, the Magistrates believed. They considered the destruction of one or even two Starfleet vessels a small price to pay, and had issued the order to Nostrene.
But being a seasoned commander, Nostrene would not act rashly. In order to succeed, his plan of attack would have to be bold and focused, with the first priority being the destruction of the derelict ship and the emitter array. That way, even if he failed to defeat the recovery vessel, the damning evidence harbored by the trapped ship would no longer be an issue.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the intraship communications system.
“Commander,” the sensor officer called out from the command deck. “The Federation ship has increased power to their tractor beam. They seem to be experiencing difficulty pulling the other vessel free.”
So the operation is turning out to be more difficult than anticipated, Nostrene thought. Perhaps the Starfleet engineers would fail