Section 31_ Rogue - Andy Mangels [71]
Zweller turned away from Picard and Batanides, and regarded Hawk with a shrug. “Why not?” he said, then began making his way aftward.
Hawk followed Zweller into the main crew compartment, past Troi and several members of the Slayton’s crew. They stepped over Grelun’s unconscious form, which was splayed across the floor while Dr. Gomp and Counselor Troi watched over him; none of the seats aboard the vessel were designed to accommodate anyone so large. Nearby, Crusher tended to what appeared to be a superficial wound on Riker’s scalp, and a nasty-looking burn on his shoulder. Then Hawk followed Zweller down a companionway ladder and into a cramped, equipment-filled lower compartment that reminded him of one of the horizontal Jefferies tubes aboard the Enterprise. Hawk could hear Roget and Hearn discussing their work on the engine core from around a corner junction.
Zweller removed an access panel just above the deck gridwork, revealing the cloaking device’s winking, glowing interior. Hawk found a tool kit in an adjacent drawer and handed it to Zweller, who lay supine in order to reach the leads running from the device to the ship’s main EPS lines.
After a few passes of an isodyne coupler, Zweller signaled to the cockpit that the cloak was operational. Then he rose, handed the tool kit to Hawk, and headed back toward the companionway ladder.
Hawk took a deep breath. I may never have a better chance than right now. He put a firm hand on Zweller’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
“I need to speak to you,” Hawk said softly, not wanting to be overheard by Roget or Hearn. “About Section 31.”
Zweller turned slowly around and regarded Hawk with a sober expression. “I’m afraid I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Lieutenant,” he said in an admonishing tone, his gaze dilithium-hard.
Hawk stood his ground and stared right back at Zweller. “Ambassador Tabor told me about Thirty-One. He told me you’re working for them, too. And he tried to convince me that losing Chiaros IV and the Geminus Gulf would be better for the Federation than winning them. He even tried to recruit me to help him accomplish that goal.”
Zweller digested this in silence. He appeared to be a difficult man to catch by surprise. But that must be part and parcel of the spy game, Hawk thought.
Zweller spoke quietly after a long, introspective pause. “I suppose Tabor died before he could answer all of your… fundamental questions.”
Hawk nodded. “And now that we know the Romulans are mixed up with the Army of Light, I have even more questions.”
“So it appears you have a choice to make, Lieutenant. The same choice I had to make when I was around your age.”
Hawk nodded slowly. “I either have to help you or stop you.”
Zweller smiled. “You’ve got a third option, kid. You can back off. Pretend you don’t know anything about Section 31. Believe me, that would be your safest option.”
Hawk considered that for a moment, then dismissed it out of hand. If he’d been of a mind to play it safe, then he never would have gone against his father’s wishes and entered Starfleet Academy. And he’d be on a safe, dull tenure-track in the antiquities department at some Martian university right now instead of piloting the Federation’s flagship out at the boundaries of human experience.
“Ignoring what Tabor tried to do here would be the same as helping you, wouldn’t it?” Hawk said. “No, I can’t just pretend I’m not involved, Commander. I am involved. And I need to know what you and Tabor were really trying to do here, and why.”
Zweller folded his arms across his chest and paused once again, evidently weighing options of his own. Finally, he said, “Let’s strike a deal, then, son: I’ll tell you whatever I think you need to know. But only after we get safely away from this hellhole.
“And assuming, of course, that both of us live that long.”
And with that, Zweller crossed to the ladder and climbed out of sight, leaving Hawk alone, the coppery