Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [173]
“The lead vessel is pursuing, Reed said. “But shes slowly losing ground to us. The other vessels seem to be converging on the Kobayashi Maru and powering up their weapons.
Without tearing his eyes from the star field ahead of him, Archer opened an intercom channel. “Archer to engineering.
“Burch here, Captain.
“We need to get life support back up, Lieutenant.
“My people are already on it, Captain. We should have everything five-by-five before it even starts getting stuffy around here, sir.
“Captain Vance is hailing us again, Captain, Hoshi said quietly. After a long, pregnant pause she added, “What should I tell him?
He slowly turned to face her, and allowed his gaze to sweep the rest of the bridge. The eyes of everyone looked like small mirrors of shock and accusation.
He wondered if he could stand to see the same look in Admiral Gardners eyes, whether or not Starfleet Command ultimately vindicated the decision hed just made.
“The Klingons have opened fire on the Kobayashi Maru, Reed said, an audible quaver in his voice.
“One of the vessels neutronic fuel tanks appears to have exploded, causing a chain reaction, TPol reported a moment later from her science console. Then she drew away from her scanner and turned to face Archer directly. “Captain, the Kobayashi Maru has been destroyed.
Archer closed his eyes tightly.
God forgive me.
FIFTY
Wednesday, July 23, 2155 San Francisco, Earth
P RIME M INISTER N ATHAN S AMUELS WOULD have preferred to have a pleasantly dull and utterly uneventful morning, but he realized now that not only was it shaping up to be a most decidedly unpleasant day, it was likely only a sample of many weeks, or perhaps months, of similarly eventful days to come.
The Coalition Security Council had called yet another one of its now-ubiquitous emergency sessions, and the decisions he expected todays meeting to yield had an even heavier air of gravitas than any action the body had taken during the previous several weeks. It was one thing to threaten war, but quite another to follow through and actually declare it. Regardless, the latest images Starfleet had relayed to the ministries of the United Earth government clearly showed that the nascent alliance had an extremely limited number of options.
All of the Coalition delegatesincluding those representing the most recently inducted members, Draylax and Alpha Centauriwere seated at their customary spots at the semicircular array of conference tables. Mounted on the wall at one end of the room was a wide, flat video monitor, which played and replayed an endless, grainy loop of the previous days debacle in the Gamma Hydra sector. Starfleet Admirals Sam Gardner and Gregory Black, MACO commandant General George Casey, and several other members of Starfleets top brass were seated near the giant viewscreen, their expressions uniformly grave and somber.
“I still believe that the Klingons must be involved in this, Gora bim Gral of Tellar said in his customary testy manner. “Note that only their ships have allegedly succumbed to this so-called Romulan superweapon. Therefore I think they must be acting in collusion with the Romulans.
Samuels saw Vulcan Foreign Minister Soval glance toward Ambassadors LNel and Solkar, one eyebrow raised. But none of the three Vulcans made any audible response to Grals assertion, leaving the minister to wonder what they might be thinking.
“We concur, said Grethe Zhor, one of the two newest delegates to the Council. “Draylax has already been a target of one of these deadly attacks. Regardless of the so-called evidence Captain Archer has gathered for this council, the fact remains that it was Klingon vessels that fired the volleys that killed so many of our people, and destroyed the Tau Cetan freighter Kobayashi Maru .
Anlenthoris chVhendreni rose to his feet, the Andorian foreign ministers cerulean antennae bent almost parallel to the white-maned slope of his skull. “The images clearly show the presence of a Romulan ship, as well as the Klingon vessels that destroyed the Kobayashi Maru . Are any of you