Last Full Measure - Michael A. Martin [38]
“With respect, Captain, this prisoner is clearly going to require some additional persuasion,” Hayes said in clipped, formal tones. Reed gathered that the man was quickly reaching the end of his limited fund of patience. Perhaps the last several weeks of enforced inactivity had taken more of a toll on the MACO leader than was immediately apparent. Is Hayes bored and restless because he’s such an obnoxious martinet? Reed wondered silently, pondering the imponderable. Or is he an obnoxious martinet because he’s so bored and restless?
“We don’t know for a fact that he actually knows how to find the exact site where the Xindi are building their weapon,” Archer said.
Reed nodded. “I had the same thought.”
Hayes spared a dismissive glance at Reed before turning his hard gaze back upon Archer. “May I remind the captain of the trace energy signatures Lieutenant Reed found on the prisoner’s clothing? And the images of Trahve and the Xindi we found back on Kaletoo?”
“He might have handled some of the weapon components on behalf of the Xindi,” Reed said, feeling more than a little anger toward the MACO. “But we don’t know for certain that he took them directly to the Xindi construction site. He could just as easily have delivered them to intermediaries. For all we really know, the delivery we saw him involved in on Kaletoo might have been the end of his contact with the Xindi.”
Hayes turned back toward Reed. “Just whose side are you on, Lieutenant?”
“That’s enough,” Archer said to Hayes, his voice pitched in a low tone that Reed knew meant Don’t poke the bear. Reed tried his best to suppress a triumphant smirk, though he suspected that he hadn’t been entirely successful.
“Sir?” Hayes said, glowering at Archer, yet still deferential.
“At ease, Major,” Archer continued. “You’re probably right in assuming that this man knows a hell of a lot more than he’s telling us.”
Though cornered, Trahve apparently wasn’t entirely cowed. “So you’re further assuming that I know precisely where the Xindi are assembling this weapon that frightens you so?”
Archer smiled, but in a manner that suggested anything but benevolence. “Let’s just say I’m assuming that you’re the kind of man who goes out of his way to gather every piece of information that might conceivably turn out to be profitable to have.”
“All right. Let’s suppose I have the information you seek, and that I decide to divulge it. What sort of ‘profit’ are you offering me in exchange for it?” Trahve asked, his tone dripping with insolence.
“Maybe ‘profit’ isn’t the best choice of words,” Archer said, his gaze locking with that of the alien like a ship-to-ship grappling line. Then he turned toward Hayes and favored him with a silent but eloquent nod.
No! Reed thought, taking a single step toward Hayes.
But it was already too late. Responding to Archer’s wordless signal, Hayes raised his rifle again and struck the manacled alien courier in the abdomen with the butt of his weapon. Trahve cried out in pain and surprise and slumped forward in his seat. Kemper kept him from sliding onto the deck, shoving him backward into his chair using one of his booted feet. The alien lay there, slumped and gasping.
“Captain!” Reed shouted. “Since when has inflicting torture become part of our mission profile?”
Archer whirled on Reed, his eyes ablaze. “If you know of a more efficient way to secure the prisoner’s cooperation, Lieutenant, I’m ready to hear it.”
Reed knew he was treading on very dangerous ground at the moment; he’d seen this very same look in the captain’s eyes all too frequently these past dozen frustrating weeks.
But he felt he had to press on regardless. “This man still might not know where the weapon is being built, Captain. In fact, he might simply be a decoy, deliberately misinformed by the Xindi just to throw us off their