Pantheon - Michael Jan Friedman [195]
The second officer took a deep breath. “We need to unmask this saboteur—and quickly. Otherwise, there is no telling when a key system might betray us, repairs or no repairs.”
Ben Zoma sympathized with his friend. Commanding a vessel was a difficult task at the best of times. In a situation where the ground kept shifting underfoot, it was nearly impossible.
“We’ll catch your saboteur,” he assured Picard.
The second officer grunted. “You sound rather certain.”
Ben Zoma smiled. “I’ve never let you down before,” he said, wishing he were even half as confident as he sounded.
It was early the next morning, as Picard was getting dressed, that he got a call from Shield Williamson.
Taking it in his quarters, he saw the Magnian’s face appear on his monitor screen. “Is everything all right?” asked the second officer.
“That depends,” said Williamson.
“On what?”
“On how you feel about having Serenity Santana board your ship again.”
Picard looked at the colonist. “For what reason?”
“One of the technicians we planned to send up isn’t feeling well. Santana is the only other Magnian who’s qualified to do the job.”
Troubled by the proposition, the second officer shook his head. “You must know how this looks.”
“Like I’m trying to pull a fast one,” Williamson conceded. “Of course, the decision is entirely yours.”
Picard considered his options—and the old saying came to him: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And it would certainly be a simpler matter for Pug Joseph to keep an eye on Santana if she was working there on the Stargazer.
“Send her up,” he told the Magnian.
But even as he extended the invitation, he could feel himself inching further out on the limb he had chosen.
Fourteen
Captain’s log, supplemental. At last, we are ready. Magnia’s defenses have been fully resurrected—and thanks to Jomar, they should be in a better position to withstand the Nuyyad now that their shields will be laced with vidrion particles. The Stargazer’s systems have been restored as well, from our warp drive to our deflector grid. What’s more, the colonists have made use of their technical expertise and their inborn talents to provide us with a couple of tools we didn’t have before—improved sensor and tractor functions. Unfortunately, we have made no discernible progress in our search for a saboteur, but we remain hopeful. After all, we have some of our best people on the case.
Pug Joseph entered the tiny engineering support room on Deck 26 and spotted Serenity Santana among her colleagues.
The dark-haired woman was shoulder to shoulder with them on her knees, fitting the forward dorsal tractor control node with devices capable of marrying telekinetic energy to the attractive and repellant forces in a directed graviton stream. Every so often she would glance at one of her fellow colonists and receive a glance in return, then go back to work.
None of the Magnians said a word. However, they all seemed to know what to do with the equipment they had brought with them.
Ensign Montenegro, an engineer, was standing in the corner of the room, his arms folded across his chest. Like Joseph, Montenegro was just a spectator. Their guests were the ones applying all the elbow grease.
The security officer felt uncomfortable being in the same room as Santana. If it had been up to him, he would have left. But he was under orders, so he stayed and kept an eye on the woman.
After a few minutes, she seemed to sense his scrutiny and looked back over her shoulder at him. He didn’t look away, but he didn’t acknowledge her either. He just stood there and did his job.
Santana worked for another ten minutes or so. Then she got up, stretched her muscles and walked over to Joseph. He felt his jaw clench.
“Long time no see,” said the colonist.
The security officer didn’t utter a word in response. He just stood there, returning her scrutiny.
“I’m sorry for pulling the wool over your eyes,” she said.
Joseph didn’t give her the