Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [142]
“I dont understand any of this, Fletcher said as she wiped the sweat away from beneath her blond bangs. “Why would the Vulcans fire on other Coalition ships?
“Maybe they had intel that told them something about the cargo they were carrying? Hernandez wondered aloud.
“Maybe. But that wouldnt explain why they fired on us as well, Fletcher said.
Hernandezs mind reeled as she realized she had no answers. All she knew for certain was that this situation was not, in the words of members of a certain pointy-eared race, logical . Unless
“Unless the Vulcans arent the ones piloting those ships, she said, her voice low enough that only her XO would hear. “What if the Romulans have learned to commandeer Vulcan tech, like they did with the Klingon battle cruisers at Draylax?
“Captain, sensors are picking up three more incoming ships! Thayer shouted.
Hernandez stared, slack-jawed, as the image on the viewscreen changed yet again.
Dropping out of warp were two more DKyr -type combat cruisers, and one of the larger, better-armed ShRaan -class ships, which looked like a spear jammed through a hoop. The weaponry the newcomers carried between them would be more than enough to blow both Columbia and the remnants of the cargo fleet to little more than drifting trails of vapor in a few seconds, polarized hull plating notwithstanding.
“Some days you just cant win, Hernandez said as she slumped back into her chair. Turning toward her XO, she said, “Better prepare to launch the log buoy, Veronica. While we still can.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Tuesday, July 22, 2155 Enterprise NX-01, near the Gamma Hydra sector
“S HUTTLEPOD T WO IS MAKING its final docking approach now, Captain, Hoshi said.
Archer nodded, rising from his command chair. “Im going down to the launch bay to meet them, he said. “You have the bridge, Hoshi.
The bridge was running with a skeleton crew at the moment; the most overworked of Enterprise s personnel, including ONeill and McCall, were taking well-deserved breaks during the outbound voyage, at least until the time came to bring the ship about deep in the Gamma Hydra sector, retracing the original patrol route back toward Earth.
As he traveled down to E deck in the turbolift, Archer was glad that relatively few people would be around to witness the return of the stolen shuttlepod. No one had questioned him about it directly over the last few days, but by now scuttlebutt had placed TPol and Malcolm on any number of secret missions. He felt fairly certain that none of the crews guesses had come even remotely close to the reality, whatever that might actually turn out to be. He was eager to learn the truth himself.
For the past several days, whenever he hadnt been preoccupied with some emergency or otherhis life-or-death duel on QonoS sprang instantly, not to mention painfully, to mindArcher had mentally rehearsed what he planned to say to TPol and Malcolm once they returned. The chance that they might not make it back had been a variable he hadnt allowed himself to consider; he couldnt bear to dwell on the possibility that he might have lost two more of his most valuable officers and friends so soon after Trips “death.
But now, as his reunion with the two errant officers neared, he felt his anger being pushed into the recesses of his mind by a rising sense of relief; his momentary pleasure at that unexpected feeling calmed his soul. Whether the root cause was mere fatigue or an emotional ricochet off the ceaseless frustrations all the recent political uncertainty within both Starfleet and the Coalition Council had caused him, by the time he reached the entrance to Launch Bay Two he had settled into an almost Vulcan state of serenity.
The hatch slid open in front of him, and Archer saw that Ensign Bougie was scuttling about outside the newly docked shuttlepod, making post-flight checks of the little ships outer hull and external propulsion components. The launch bays magnetic docking arm stood just above the shuttlepods roof, and the launch bay air seemed charged with expectation, along with