Surak's Soul - J.M. Dillard [41]
“How else do you explain it?” Archer demanded, even though he understood her position completely. He had no direct proof, other than an unshakable belief.
But the Vulcan was equally immovable. “Wanderer is a pacifist, Captain. It explained to me how it does not believe in killing.”
“How do you know it doesn’t believe in lying?” Trip shot at her; his barb drew her sharp glance.
“Its beliefs are very similar to those of Vulcans,” T’Pol insisted. “It is quite evolved. And it would be most disgusted by your accusations. What possible reason would it have to kill humanoids?”
For that, Archer had no answer; but Trip was all engineer when he replied, “It consists of energy, right?”
T’Pol allowed a single, tight nod.
“Well, how does it renew itself? What’s its energy source, Sub-Commander? How does it feed?”
Archer felt his lips twist with revulsion.
“It has not discussed that with me,” T’Pol admitted. “But it agreed with me at length that it was against violence of all forms. It specifically stated it was against killing sentient beings.” She paused. “If it was lying, why did it not destroy us all when it first came aboard?”
“Maybe it was full,” Archer said. He was not entirely joking.
“And maybe it’s amusing itself in the interim,” Trip added. “Going along for the ride until it works up an appetite.” A sudden thought alarmed him; he glanced swiftly at Archer. “It’s studying our computer database, right? Then it’s going to be able to locate Earth and Vulcan and other inhabited planets….”
“We’ve got to stop it,” Archer said. “No matter what it takes.”
As the captain expected, T’Pol protested at once. “Sir, how can you even discuss such a prospect without proof that Wanderer is indeed a danger to us? And even if it is a danger to us, how can you decide so swiftly to destroy such a unique life-form, without exploring other options first?”
“If Wanderer is so compassionate about humanoids,” the captain countered, “then ask it why it didn’t inform us at once that Hoshi was ill? I had to send someone from sickbay down to her lab to find her. She was unconscious.”
“Perhaps…” T’Pol began, then fell silent. At last she admitted, “Wanderer was capable of notifying me, if not those in sickbay. I cannot explain this. Perhaps it was a cultural misunderstanding. Perhaps Wanderer misinterpreted what happened and thought she was dead or asleep, or that there was no point in informing us, since there was nothing we could do for her.”
The captain let go an audible, frustrated breath. “Look, I know I have nothing more than a hunch. But it is a reasonable one. We’ve got to find out whether Wanderer is responsible for all the deaths, and how we can protect our people.”
“Well, it doesn’t like engineering,” Trip said. “So a lot of people can camp out here. But I don’t think we can fit sixty unless we stack ’em like dinner plates.”
“The warp engines bother it,” Archer said. “We’ve got to figure out why, so you can rig something that’ll protect everyone—maybe even drive it from the vessel.”
Trip managed to make a snicker sound grim. “Right. I’ll just build another mini-warp engine with the spare parts lying around here.”
“If it comes to that,” Archer said, in a tone that conveyed he wasn’t joking. He stepped over to a bulkhead and found the nearest companel. “Archer to sickbay.”
“Cutler here.” She sounded on the verge of collapse herself.
Don’t you ever sleep, Ensign? he almost asked, but there was no time. Instead he told her, “I need you to bring all the patients in sickbay to engineering. Bring beds, life-support, whatever they need…but I want you and them to stay up here for a while.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“I’ll explain everything in time. It’s something of an emergency. Get as many hands as you need to help out. Archer out.” He turned to Trip and T’Pol.
“Aren’t you a bit ahead of yourself, Captain?” the Vulcan asked. “We don’t even know that Wanderer is dangerous.”
“That’s what you and I are going to find out now,