The Devil's Heart - Carmen Carter [74]
The commander’s fist clenched, crumpling the communiqu`e into a tight ball. “What are the odds of any Vulcan trader knowing about the Hold?”
“That was my first thought, but I didn’t have the chance to ask any more questions. Our communications were cut.
All contact with the Hold has been lost.”
With her heart racing from a sudden surge of adrenalin, Miyakawa asked, “Camenae, do you know of any reason why a Romulan warbird would be headed to this starbase?”
“I think they are after T’Sara’s Ko N’ya.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Yet that very suspicion had been at the root of her apprehension. “Would the Romulans risk an interstellar war with the Federation and its allies for so little?”
“If the Romulans gain possession of the Ko N’ya,” said Camenae, “they could probably win that war.”
Miyakawa reached for her comm insignia one more time. “Attention all starbase personnel.
Initiate evacuation procedures. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill.”
Finally, she knew what to do next.
“Dispose of him,” said Commander Taris, stepping away from the limp body.
She waited, seemingly impassive, as two security guards rushed forward to remove the Ferengi from the chair. In truth, she had to clench her jaw to keep from snapping at them to hurry as they fumbled with the bindings that held the subject in place.
Subcommander Vedoc was less self-disciplined; she could hear his boot tapping impatiently on the ship’s metal deck. “So, this wretched Ferengi was telling the truth after all, and he hid nothing from us.”
“I could have done with far less revelation,” Taris said dryly. The clever trickster had dissolved into a babbling fountain of information even before he was attached to the mind-sifter; she wondered if all of his species were equally weak-willed.
The last of the restraints were unfastened, and one of the guards easily lifted the small alien into the air. Both of the subject’s eyes were still open, darting this way and that in independent directions. The highest setting of the mind-sifter seemed to sever the brain’s ability to coordinate muscle movement; it severed many other connections as well.
The DaiMon was still alive in a technical sense, but this vegetative state would not persist for long as the body’s nervous system functions continued to fail.
When the guards had carried the body away, Taris could speak more freely. “The Enterprise! I might have known it would be involved with these tales of the Ko N’ya’s reappearance.”
“But Commander, most of what he told us was speculation rather than fact.”
“Learn to trust your instincts, Vedoc.” She suspected that instinct was another of the leadership qualities that he lacked; worse yet, he apparently lacked a comprehensive knowledge of their enemies. “The captain of the Enterprise has a fondness for ancient cultures, and this would not be the first time he has meddled in our affairs.”
“Then it will be his last!”
“Your enthusiasm is noted,” said Taris.
The young man jerked to attention, chest puffed out; he had mistaken her sarcasm for praise. What a shame that his finely chiseled features were not accompanied by an equally impressive intellect.
With a weary sigh, the commander turned on her heel and marched swiftly out of the interrogation chamber. Vedoc scuttled after her.
When they stepped into the circular bridge, the quiet air of efficiency restored her temper.
Unlike the subcommander, the soldiers hunched over their work stations had served on the Haakona for years. Taris had weeded out the weak and the stupid, leaving her with a leaner crew than most warbirds possessed, but one that was more competent.
She stepped up onto the dais of the captain’s chair. Each of the crew cast her a quick side-glance that signaled their ready status; a simple nod on her part would have elicited a verbal report; a series of hand signals could relay