The Brave and the Bold Book Two - Keith R. A. DeCandido [37]
Chakotay snorted in what Hudson supposed was agreement, then turned to Torres. “Have you finished that mini-transponder to put on the artifact?”
Torres nodded. “I made four of them, just in case.” She grinned. “Amazing what you can do with a few solenoid transtators.”
“I have an additional suggestion,” Tuvok said.
“As if we care,” Mastroeni muttered.
Hudson shot Mastroeni a look, then said, “What’s your thought, Tuvok?”
“We do as Captain Chakotay suggests—but turn the artifact over to Captain DeSoto.”
“We’re not giving that thing to Starfleet!” Mastroeni said.
“Starfleet has a general order in place that compels them to confiscate the artifacts. If we take possession of it, then we become a target. The Hood will not leave the Demilitarized Zone until they have completed their mission: to retrieve the artifact.” He turned to Hudson and Chakotay. “In addition, it will show Starfleet that Tharia is, in fact, a rogue who does not speak for the Maquis as an organization.”
Chakotay looked at Hudson. Unlike Mastroeni—or Torres or Seska, for that matter—Chakotay had, like Hudson, worn a Starfleet uniform. The Federation might have betrayed the people of the DMZ, but Hudson knew that, in some matters, Starfleet could be trusted. Hudson assumed that Chakotay felt the same.
“Much as I hate to admit it, Starfleet’s better equipped to handle that thing than we are,” Chakotay said after a moment. “They’ve already got two of them, and knowing them, they’ll probably dig up the fourth one before long. And frankly—I don’t want it. It’s already turned one of my trusted comrades into a psychotic killing machine. And Tuvok’s right about something else—Tharia’s done tremendous damage to the cause with what he just said to DeSoto. We have to nip that in the bud before the Hood reports back to Starfleet that we’ve all turned into maniacs. I think capturing the artifact and then handing it to DeSoto will accomplish that.” He smiled wryly. “Besides, I get the feeling we may have to rescue the good captain from Tharia before the day is out. Starfleet captains may be stupid sometimes, but they also usually are properly grateful.”
Hudson considered. Then he looked at Mastroeni and McAdams. The latter nodded quickly. “Darleen?” he prompted.
Predictably, she snarled. “I don’t want to do anything to help Starfleet.”
“I don’t see that we have a choice here.”
For the first time since he’d met her, Darleen Mastroeni smiled. “Oh, there’s always a choice, Cal—just a question of making the right one or not.” She then sighed. “All right, fine. We do it this way. I’m in.”
Chakotay gave his own people the same look.
“I’m in,” Torres said with no hesitation.
“We should just destroy the thing,” Seska said.
“It has been attempted,” Tuvok said.
Undaunted, Seska said, “Then I say we attempt it again.”
“And when we fail?” Chakotay asked.
Seska folded her arms. “Then we give it to Starfleet.”
“All right,” Hudson said. “Chakotay and I will beam down, along with Tuvok.” He cut off Mastroeni before she could object. “I know you don’t trust him, Darleen, but he knows these artifacts better than any of us.” He turned to the others. “We’ll each wear one of Torres’s mini-transponders so she can pick us up again. The fourth’ll go on the artifact, just in case we need to confiscate it for a while.” Looking at Chakotay, he said, “I want to keep my options open.”
“Agreed. Let’s do it.”
Chapter Eight
THE FIRST TIME CAL HUDSON went through a transporter, he was four years old and he thought it was the most wonderful sensation in the world. One second he was standing on an indoor transporter platform, the next he was in the middle of Central Park in New York City. His father had promised young Cal a ride on the famous carousel, but the four-year-old boy had found the mode of getting to the attraction more exciting. The entire time he sat going around on the artificial horses, he was waiting for it to end so he could go through the transporter again.
In the