Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [152]
Vances order had scarcely left his lips before the exec hopped over the railing that separated him from one of the boxy forward duty stations, where he assisted a junior male crewman in entering the appropriate commands into the console. The young crewman, an engineers mate named Simonson, looked as relieved as Searles felt; she wondered if hed been about to stage a mutiny of his own.
This wasnt the first time Searles had justifiably feared that the alien contraptions she had reluctantly allowed into her engine room might do them all in. Secret Vulcan gadgetry doesnt seem to come with a straightforward users manual, she thought, wishing Vance had never approached her with the stuff.
“Well let her cool down for an hour or so before we try to bring the warp-power mains back online, Vance said, addressing nobody in particular as he made the first verbal footprints in the bridges new-fallen blanket of silence.
Searles noticed then that Stiles was staring at her, an urgent question burning in his dark eyes. The only answer she could offer him was a helpless shrug.
“Id like a chance to pick up the pieces back in the engine room first, Searles said, casting her gaze back upon Vance. “ Then we ought to decide how much downtime the main propulsion system is going to need.
Vance looked intensely uncomfortable with that, though he uttered nothing other than a muttered, half-intelligible curse. Why do ship captains seem to think we engineers can get them special waivers for the laws of physics? she thought.
“Captain, I think you and I need to have a word in private, said Stiles, his eyes hurling thunderbolts in Vances direction.
“Youd better set the table for three, Captain, Searles said. Looks like the jig is finally up, she thought, feeling a sense of relief at the prospect of no longer having to protect an awkward secret on Vances behalf. Vance should have let his first mate in on this thing at the beginning.
Vance sighed and chewed his lip as he stared off into the middle distance. Then he looked up, first at Stiles, then at Searles.
“All right. I owe the both of you at least that much. He rose from his chair and made a grand “after you gesture toward one of the two doors located in the bridges aft section. “In my cabin, if you please.
Arturo Stiles couldnt quite bring himself to accept the chair Vance had offered; until hed had a chance to process the startling admission the captain had just made, he preferred to stand.
“So weve really come all this way to help the Vulcans set up a military listening post? Stiles asked, gesticulating as though his hands were semaphore flags as he stood between the two places where the captain and the chief engineer were sitting. “Just when were you two planning on letting me in on this? Im only the goddamn first mate, after all.
Vance met Stiless roar with remarkable composure. “To be absolutely candid with you, Arturo, I wasnt planning on letting you in on this. I would have been content to quietly drop off a few of the personnel weve been carrying as passengers, along with a number of sealed crates, once we finished the voyage to the outskirts of Tezel-Oroko. Then we would have quietly returned to our original itinerary, with nobody the wiser.
Stiles still couldnt quite get his head around any of this. “But why keep it from me ?
Vance flashed that damned insouciant smile of his, the one that said, Honey-this-isnt-what-it-looks-like-even-though-youve-caught-me-red-handed-canoodling-with-an-Orion-animal-woman. “For your own protection, of course, the captain said.
“I dont get it, Vance. Youre acting like a common smuggler. Have you gotten us involved in something illegal? Stiles knew it wouldnt be the first time his skipper had played fast and loose either with interstellar law or the UESPA regs.
“ Illegal and clandestine arent necessarily synonymous things, Arturo, Vance said.
“You just told me that the Maru is secretly transporting both