Miracle Workers (SCE Books 5-8) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [46]
After the three guards dematerialized, Nog said, “Can someone please explain to me what it is, precisely, that we are up against?”
“Simple,” Duffy said. “The Androssi. They first showed up in the Demilitarized Zone a few years back, trying to convince the Maquis to accept their help.”
“Help?”
Duffy sighed. “In a lot of ways, the Androssi are like the S.C.E.—they offer to fix technical problems. The difference is, they always have a price.”
Nog seemed confused. “What’s wrong with that?”
Stevens grinned. Once a Ferengi . . .
“There tends to be a big difference,” Duffy said, “between what they ask for and what they actually take. They’ve also been known to cause the problem in order to come in and solve it. Most of the places they claim to have helped out are usually worse off than when they started—mainly because what they ask for is technology. They’re constantly looking for new tech.”
“What about adjusting existing technology?” Nog asked.
Stevens frowned. “What do you mean?”
Nog walked over to a console. “When I got here, I picked up some strange readings.” He started entering commands into the console. “Look at this.”
Stevens and Duffy both walked up to join the young Ferengi at the console. That’s Lieutenant Young Ferengi to you, Fabe, he admonished himself. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around Nog as an officer—hell, it had taken him a while to get used to the idea of Quark’s nephew as a cadet. . . .
Looking at the console, Stevens saw that Nog had called up the station specs and put them alongside an internal scan of the station.
Duffy spoke before Stevens could. “They’ve made modifications.”
Corsi stepped forward. “What kind of modifications?”
“Not sure,” Duffy said. “The Androssi use dimensional shifts in their technology. It’s why their stuff will sometimes not be visible until you interact with it.”
“Okay, here’s a question,” Corsi said. “Let’s say they’ve modified the station. Do we have any reason to stop them?”
Nog whirled on her. “We need the fusion core.”
“So the hell what? I remind you, Lieutenant, that we’re on an unclaimed station in unclaimed space.”
“Overseer Biron and his people are still wanted on Maeglin after what they pulled,” Duffy said.
“That’s assuming that this really is the work of Biron, which we don’t know. Besides, we don’t have the authority to act on behalf of the Maeglin government, and it doesn’t change the fact that this station is in free space. They have as much a right to it as we do.”
Stepping forward, Nog said, “We’re not just abandoning the station to these people! We have to have that fusion core.”
Corsi looked at Duffy. “Commander?”
Well, that’s impressive, Stevens thought, she’s actually passing the buck to Duff. But then, Corsi always deferred to whoever was in charge, once she got her complaint in. Normally that was Gomez or Gold, but with the commander off on Sarindar, that left Duff in charge—just, he remembered, like it was against the Tholians.
“I’m with Nog here, Corsi. You’re right, the Androssi have as much right to the station as we do—but we have just as much a right to try to dismantle their net. Besides, we really do need this fusion core.”
“Lieutenant Commander Duffy?” The hesitant voice belonged to Soloman.
“Talk to me, Soloman.”
“I have done a preliminary investigation of the Androssi security device. As far as I can determine, the Androssi have upgraded their technology from the last time we encountered them. I do not believe that I can interface with their technology as 111 and I attempted the last time.”
Stevens sighed. He had expected something like this—and honestly, he was grateful. Soloman had been through enough since 111 died on that big ship at Blossom IV. His and 111’s attempt to interface with Androssi computers on Maeglin