Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [153]
“Dont be so nave, Arturo, said the chief engineer, crossing her legs on the low, lumpy couch near the desk behind which Vance reclined. “Vulcans lie like rugs, and you know it. They do it all the time; they just never got quite as good at it as we did.
Vance grinned. “And that fact may explain why humans and Vulcans seem to be so much stronger together than apart. Its a perfect partnership of brains and guile.
Stiles could barely suppress a volcanic surge of anger as he hiked a thumb toward Searles. “You didnt seem to have a problem letting our chief engineer in on the truth before now. And how did this Vulcan problem land in the Maru s lap anyway?
Vance spread his hands helplessly. “The Vulcans probably didnt think their own military or merchant vessels could maintain as low a profile as an Earth Cargo Service vessel could, what with the Klingons and the Romulans both so touchy lately about Coalition naval movements. So after the Horizon failed to make its cargo-pickup rendezvous with the Maru , it fell upon us to deliver what the Horizon would have carried to its final destination.
“And that meant we needed to make up for a considerable amount of lost time very quickly, Searles said.
“Right, Vance said. “Unfortunately, this vessels maximum warp capability was simply not equal to the task.
That explains our sudden change to a hell-for-leather course all the way out to Tezel-Oroko, Stiles thought. He couldnt help but wonder whether any humans had ever before ventured out so far.
Or so fast.
“So the captain felt he had no one to turn to except me, Searles said. “If this, um, mission for the Vulcans was to stay on a completely need-to-know basis, that is.
Stiles thought he was beginning to understand the captains need for secrecy, though he still felt insulted and deceivedand perhaps even a bit betrayed.
The exec cast a hard glare at Searles. “So how did you get this much giddy-up into an old bucket of stem bolts like the Maru, Jackie? Did the Vulcans help with that, too?
She nodded. “Vances contacts on Vulcan supplied the parts. I just turned the wrenches, with a little help from a couple of the experts bound for Tezel-Oroko.
The captain paused to clear his throat before he continued with the explanation-cum-briefing. “I had to resort to using certainengine components that the Vulcan government had entrusted to me against an eventuality such as this one.
“What kind of components? Stiles asked, his curiosity thoroughly piqued. He knew that the Maru would be able to make it the rest of the way to Tezel-Oroko in just a matter of a few hours, once her warp drive was back up and running; hed never seen a human-piloted ship make that kind of time before, including Starfleets fancy NX -class jobs.
Apparently responding to the blank look on the captains face, Searles glanced up at the ceiling as she began reciting her mental list of the ad hoc modifications her warp drive had undergone. “A new antimatter flow regulator. A dilithium matrix wave-guide like nothing Ive ever seen before. Something called a flux capacitor. And a couple of other things I wouldnt have recognized without a little help from one of our expert passengers.
Vance nodded. “One of the experts with pointed ears, that is. At any rate, I needed Jackies cooperation to get all the new drive pieces properly installed, along with the systems designed to monitor them.
Those propulsion widgets must have still been in their packing crates when those Starfleet engineers were crawling through the Maru s guts, Stiles thought. He wondered how long Vance could have maintained his present cool demeanor had Captain Archer been the one challenging him with ticklish questions about secrecy, legality, and lies, Vulcan or otherwise.
Then it occurred to him that Starfleet would probably pay handsomely for access to those secret Vulcan