Synthesis - James Swallow [67]
The rest of the group was there under Tuvok’s direct orders. Lieutenant sh’Aqabaa would assist him if any tactical situations arose, while Ensign Dakal and Lieutenant Sethe had joined the party to serve ostensibly as scientific observers. The Cardassian and the Cygnian were both programming their tricorders, setting up scanner macros for the mission ahead.
The Holiday settled to the deck with a dull thud, and the tractor field flashed off. Immediately, a two-tone alert began to sound across the cavernous space of the shuttle-bay, and Tuvok turned to see the main hatch begin its retreat into the ceiling. Open space beckoned beyond, the vacuum and cold held out by a thin veil of atmospheric shielding.
Tuvok nodded to Pava. “Take the controls, Lieutenant. Clear us for departure.”
“Aye, sir,” said the Andorian, taking swift steps to board the shuttle.
“Our mission objectives are clear,” Tuvok told the others. “You are reminded to remain wary at all times. The agenda of the Sentry AIs has yet to be fully determined, and therefore they should be considered potentially hostile.”
“Meaning what?” said Sethe nervously. “That we could be walking into a trap?”
“If these machines wanted hostages, they could have taken the captain and the counselor when they first beamed down,” said McCreedy. “I don’t want to damage your ego, Holor, but we’re not worth as much as they are.”
“The probability of seizure is low,” Tuvok agreed. “However, circumstances are fluid. We are dealing with a xenospecies never before encountered. Make no assumptions about them.”
Pava’s voice called through the open hatch. “We’re clear to disembark.”
At a nod of his head, Tuvok’s team filed aboard the Holiday. Ensign Dakal was the last to step through the hatch, and he paused on the threshold. “Commander,” he said. “This is as much a mission of espionage as it is otherwise.”
It wasn’t a question, but Tuvok treated it as such and nodded. “That is part of the reason you and Lieutenant Sethe are here. You have the most direct experience of the Sentry technology.”
“If they determine we are spying on them, will that not further undermine any foundation of good faith?”
Tuvok nodded again. “As such, I would suggest that we do not raise their suspicions.”
“That may be easier said than done, sir,” noted the Cardassian.
“Indeed,” he replied, and followed the ensign aboard the shuttle.
The hatch retracted shut behind him, and Pava applied power to the thrusters. As Tuvok took his seat beside her, the Holiday shot through the open bay and out past the curved walls of the Sentry spacedock.
“Interrogative: Would it not be a more efficient use of time and materials to address the stress fractures here?” White-Blue extended a metallic limb, which opened at the tip to present a thinner manipulator. The spindly pointer touched a highlighted area in the wire-frame hologram of the Titan floating over the systems display table.
Xin Ra-Havreii’s lips curled, and he leaned on the panel, looking past the spidery mechanoid to the spread of main engineering behind it. Members of his team were busy at the warp core’s matter injectors, working through a realignment program. He looked back at the detail the AI was indicating, a torsion effect that had caused minor hull damage to the port pylon. On a second glance, he realized that the machine had a very good point. The Sentry remotes outside would be able to work over that minor problem much faster than the Titan’s crew, not needing to spend setup time drawing the right tools or suiting for an extravehicular operation; it would