Last Full Measure - Michael A. Martin [21]
The creature stopped at a dusty viewscreen and began tapping data into a wall-mounted pad equipped with huge keys that had obviously been designed to accommodate his wide, blunt fingers. A visual of the landing pad as seen from about a hundred or so meters above immediately appeared on the screen; the picture wavered as the operator scrolled quickly through it, making ships appear and vanish with frenetic randomness as long periods of time—months on the terrestrial calendar, Chandra assumed—spooled swiftly backward. Finally, the frantic spooling stopped, and the camera angle changed to a viewpoint matching that of a person standing on the ground. A bird flying over the landing field confirmed that time was now moving forward at its customary rate.
“Whatever they wanted, they got,” the creature said. “These Xindi always acted as though they owned the whole kreffing planet.”
Chandra’s blood froze as he saw a pair of reptilian though vaguely humanoid creatures walk into frame, pulling behind them an antigrav cart on which a variety of containers were stacked. It was the first time that Chandra had seen a “live” Xindi, though everyone serving aboard Enterprise was by now very familiar with the images taken of the corpse of the one found in the wreckage of the Xindi superweapon that had slain all those millions back on Earth.
Pushing the cart from behind was a humanoid male, who did not appear to be Xindi; his pale, bland features in no way resembled those of the late Xindi humanoid Kessick, whose image Chandra had also become familiar with following the Tulaw trellium mine affair.
The slug pointed at the humanoid displayed on the screen. “La’an Trahve. And before you ask, I don’t keep audio. That’s just asking for trouble. I don’t know what they discussed, and I don’t know what Trahve couriered for the Xindi lizards.”
Chandra watched Reed raise his padd, clearly intent on capturing the images. The slug glared at him dangerously.
“Trying to steal my images, are you?” the creature’s translated voice rumbled. “That is most impolite, my friend. Must I add that device to my collection?” He waved a stubby arm toward the stacks of mismatched equipment strewn about the cramped chamber.
Reed looked intensely frustrated, but obediently lowered the device. Seeing that the lieutenant had not activated the device’s scanning functions, Chandra surreptitiously flicked a toggle on his own padd. To Chandra’s great relief the slug, still intent on Reed, did not appear to notice.
“How often did you say the Xindi came here?” Archer asked, apparently eager to divert their host’s attention from Lieutenant Reed. The captain’s brows furrowed together as he studied the image on the monitor.
“Only rarely did they visit my landing field, and they won’t be welcome here again,” the slug said. “One of them emptied his cloaca in the southeast corner. Disgusting creatures! Couldn’t even be bothered to use the plumbing fixtures the way any other sentient would have. Stank up the whole pad for turns before I discovered the cause.”
“Can you get us a better shot of Trahve?” Hayes asked. “From one of your other cameras?”
The slug toggled another switch, but the next image that appeared wasn’t much better than the previous one. “Best I’ve got,” he said. “Study it now, and I’ll give you directions to Trahve as soon as you’ve paid me.”
“Let’s go back out to the shuttlepod and bring the man his pay,” Archer said. He cast a final glance at the monitor, and Chandra saw his jaw clench so tightly that he feared the captain might break his teeth. Then, Archer turned and