Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [169]
ARCHER, YOU ARE HEADED INTO A TRAP. ROMULAN SNEAK ATTACK COMING, BY REMOTE CONTROL. FREIGHTER NOT SAVABLE. TURN ENTERPRISE ABOUT IMMEDIATELY, MAX WARP.
As he finished the third iteration of his message, Trip made direct eye contact with Sopek. He wondered for an instant whether the turncoat captain suspected anything, or if he was merely trying to extract some perverse enjoyment out of Trips reactions to the coming disaster.
“Commander, whats that in your hand? Sopek said, confirming the former while not ruling out the latter. Turning his head, the captain nodded toward the hulking armed uhlan , who reacted by displaying the self-satisfied expression of a man who had finally been issued a license to do something very nastysomething hed been forced very reluctantly to refrain from doing for far too long.
Oh, crap.
Before the uhlan managed to close half the distance that separated them, Trip jumped over the chest-high railing that stood between him and the sublieutenant whose hand guided the rudder. Taking advantage of the split second of surprise the maneuver had bought him, he shoved the helmsman out of his chair, sending the young man sprawling across the decks hard duranium gridwork. Then he grabbed the momentarily untended throttle and opened it up all the way.
As he slammed the portside lateral thrusters open, sending the bird-of-prey into a hard starboard turn, he grabbed the helm console with his free hand to prevent the heaving, cockeyed deck from throwing him off his feet. Trip turned his head to the left just in time to observe that Sopek had been neither fortunate nor skilled enough to do the same.
Focusing his attention on the central viewer at the front of the bridge, Trip watched as one of the dirty-gray ice bodies of Tezel-Orokos Kuiper belt drew inexorably closer, its shape visible mainly as a dim, distorted crescent of reflected stellar light.
Too bad Sopeks damned telecapture doohickey isnt on this ship, he thought. Id mind dying a whole lot less if I knew I was taking that thing with me.
Then something blunt and heavy struck Trip very hard across the back of the head, casting him abruptly into darkness.
FORTY-NINE
Gamma Hydra sector, section ten Enterprise NX-01
A RCHER WAS AFRAID he knew what Hoshi was going to say before she said it. “Sorry, Captain, said the communications officer via the intercom unit on Archers ready-room desk. “The subspace modulations carrying that signal have juststopped.
“Thanks, Hoshi. Keep scanning for any follow-up transmissions. He closed the channel before pushing the chair beneath him away from his compact desk. Looking up at TPol, he said, “Trips message stopped right in the middle of that last repetition. A tight fist of worry clutched at his guts.
TPol stood tensely in the center of the small chamber, hands clasped behind her back.
“Did you understand the message, Captain?
“I did, Archer said, nodding. “Ill admit Im a bit rusty at Morse code, but evidently not much more rusty than whoever sent that message.
Her head tilted slightly in evident curiosity. “Morse code?
“An Earth communications code thats even older than EM-based luminal-speed radio. He took a moment to confirm the brief messages exact verbatim contents with Hoshi via the intercom, and shared the information with TPol in the process. “What the hell do you suppose happened during that last repetition? he said as his XO considered the message in silence.
The Vulcan woman raised an eyebrow, making Archer think that she might be wondering if his question had been purely rhetorical. “It would appear that Trip is no longer transmitting.
“If it really was Trip transmitting, Archer said.
Her reply was as devoid of doubt as the rocks outside the New Berlin lunar settlement were free of water. “It was. What do you intend to do about his warning?
“I wish I knew, Archer said. “I need a little bit more to go on to justify leaving a whole ship and crew out here to diestarting with why the transmission was cut off. Did the Romulans