Section 31_ Rogue - Andy Mangels [80]
Zweller shook his head, then paused to gather his thoughts. “Could I speak absolutely candidly to both of you for a moment?” he said finally.
“That would be a nice change,” Batanides said. She was not smiling.
“All you have is the hearsay of two of your officers and the word of an obstreperous Tellarite doctor against mine. You’ve got no proof of anything-even with an empath in the room! So if you’re not prepared to arrest me and convene a general hearing, I respectfully suggest that you both let this matter lie.”
Picard watched as Batanides silently fumed. He realized that Zweller had outmaneuvered them. For now.
“All right, Corey,” Picard said at length. “I will put this matter aside. But only until Grelun or some of your colleagues from the Slayton can shed some more light onto it.”
“Thank you,” Zweller said, his emotions inaccessible.
“You are dismissed, Commander,” Batanides said icily.
Pained that his old friend would not reach out to him, Picard watched in silence as Zweller exited the ready room.
Feeling weary, Zweller entered the quarters Riker had issued him. Picard’s first officer had strongly suggested that he remain there pending the resolution of the political business on Chiaros IV. Noting that he didn’t actually seem to be under arrest, Zweller decided he was too tired to argue the point tonight. He’d take the matter up directly with Johnny in the morning.
Ensconced in his quarters, Zweller contacted La Forge to request information about the huge volume of space the Romulans were apparently concealing. Though the engineer had seemed a bit overworked and harried, he had promptly uploaded the relevant observational data into Zweller’s computer terminal. Though there was no conclusive information about what the Romulans were doing behind the vast invisibility screen they had constructed out in the Chiaros system’s far reaches, they were clearly using it to hide an artificial construct of some sort.
Zweller waded through the data late into the ship’s night, a worm of apprehension turning deep in his gut as he read. The Slayton’s crew had not detected the cloaking field before Zweller and his crewmates had taken the shuttlecraft Archimedes down to Chiaros IV.
If they had, Zweller thought as sleep finally began to take him, then Section 31 might never have struck its deal with Koval.
Picard was not surprised in the least to learn that Romulan Ambassador T’Alik wished to meet with him. What did surprise him was that the ambassador had waited an entire day to respond to his acquisition of the officially nonexistent Romulan scoutship.
It was shortly after 0800 when Batanides and Troi entered the ready room, where Picard was already seated behind his desk, sipping a cup of Earl Grey. Lieutenant Daniels signaled from the bridge that the Romulan delegation had been beamed aboard and was on its way.
Picard smiled over his teacup at the two women, who seated themselves on the ready-room couch.
“This should be good,” Picard said, smiling mischievously for a moment before restoring the impassive demeanor of interstellar diplomacy. Troi and Batanides did likewise.
Moments later, a pair of security guards escorted T’Alik and her assistant, V’Riln, into Picard’s ready room. Picard noted that V’Riln was the very same Romulan whose life he had saved during the armed contretemps in Hagraté. V’Riln nodded curtly to him, but there was no hint of gratitude in his eyes. You’re quite welcome, the captain thought wryly.
Picard did not rise from his chair, nor did he offer T’Alik or V’Riln a place to sit. He knew there was nothing to be gained by making them unnecessarily comfortable.
“Madame Ambassador,” Picard said simply.
“Captain,” the Romulan responded, unsmiling.
“Allow me to introduce Vice-Admiral Batanides of Starfleet Intelligence. And you have already met my ship’s counselor, Commander Troi.”
T’Alik bowed her head in courtly fashion. “Admiral. Counselor.”
V’Riln cast a sour glance at Troi. “I wish we had been advised of your intention to bring a Betazoid to