Section 31_ Rogue - Andy Mangels [118]
“Corey, I understand that without the rule of law, the universe is even more dangerous than any adversary even the most paranoid Section 31 agent could ever imagine.”
She fell silent then, staring hard at him for what seemed like an eternity. Then he saw the anger in her eyes slowly draining away, to be replaced by something else entirely. Was it pity?
The thought rankled him. He glanced away from her under the pretext of monitoring the helm panel. A glance at the chronometer reminded him that he might as well call the Enterprise-and finally learn whatever fate had befallen Johnny’s captured Romulan scoutship.
Batanides evidently had just had the same thought. “Do you think Jean-Luc made it?”
Zweller wanted to say something hopeful, though he truly didn’t feel that way. It wasn’t that he lacked faith in Picard’s abilities; it was simply that he knew very well that when Koval wanted someone dead, that was the way that person usually ended up.
“I suppose there’s only one way to find out,” he said, then touched a control, opening a channel to the Enterprise.
He was surprised and pleased to see Picard’s face appear on the viewscreen. Zweller noted that his old classmate looked haggard and tired. He was dressed in a robe and appeared to be speaking to them from his quarters.
“You’ve looked better, Johnny,” Batanides said, grinning slightly.
Picard smiled weakly in response. “A lingering aftereffect of winning a brawl against a subspace singularity. It’ll pass. How did your mission go?”
Zweller held up the data chip, displaying it triumphantly. “The only downside, in case you haven’t heard already, is that all Federation personnel are now considered personae non grata anywhere in the Geminus Gulf.”
Picard hesitated for a moment before answering. “I’m already well aware of that,” he said finally. “But I don’t think the Romulans have any cause for celebration, either. Without the subspace singularity, they no longer have any rationale for being here.”
As Picard signed off and the craft approached the aft shuttlebay, Zweller smiled. Everything was going to work out well after all-despite the fact that the singularity’s destruction could be as big a loss to the Federation as it was to the Romulans. But with the singularity gone, the Romulans would probably abandon the Geminus Gulf of their own accord soon enough, and Section 31 would be waiting patiently. By that time, the Chiarosan people would surely see the Romulans for the devious manipulators they were, and would welcome the Federation with open, triple-jointed arms. A full investigation of Ruardh’s pogroms would almost certainly result in her ouster, if that result wasn’t imminent already. Peace might come to Chiaros IV at last.
Zweller leaned back in the copilot’s seat, his fingers laced behind his head. Yes, everything was working out very well indeed.
Still, he avoided looking at Batanides for the rest of the flight.
As Batanides and Zweller stepped from the Herschel onto the Enterprise’s main shuttlebay, the admiral wasn’t surprised to see Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard-the latter now dressed in a light-duty uniform-already waiting there to greet them. What the admiral did find surprising was the pair of brawny security guards who stepped forward, bracketing Zweller and taking him into custody.
“Thanks for saving me the trouble,” Batanides said to Picard as she confiscated the data chip. Zweller seemed remarkably unconcerned about what was happening.
“If you’re thinking of using the information on that chip against us, you might as well not bother,” Zweller said as one of the guards manacled his wrists and the other scanned him for weapons, finding none. “I’m the only one aboard this ship who knows the encryption key.”
Damn! she thought, gripping the data chip tightly. She knew that the xenocryptography specialists