The Expanse - J.M. Dillard [40]
Lieutenant Reed swiveled in his chair to face Archer. “Did the freighter captain say who we’re supposed to contact?”
The Captain kept his gaze focused on his monitor screen. “The foreman of the north mine ... he’s expecting us.”
T’Pol took the opportunity to ask a question, one that Archer had not answered. Of late, he had been reticent concerning details. “What makes this captain so certain one of the miners is Xindi?”
Archer sighed and at last looked up from the screen. “He’s not. He just said he ‘thinks’ there was a Xindi aboard a transport he took there a few years ago.”
“And it’s safe to enter orbit?” Reed’s voice was plainly skeptical. “There are no security considerations?” Security was the Lieutenant’s responsibility, a task he took most seriously; apparently, the Captain and Commander Tucker seemed to think he sometimes took it too seriously, and often joked about the fact.
But Archer’s reply was anything but good-humored; T’Pol heard the undercurrent of anger in his tone. “He didn’t mention any.”
Reed’s expression grew troubled. “With all due respect, sir, we should approach with caution. The freighter captain was of questionable character.”
T’Pol watched as forty-one days of frustration rose in Archer and consumed the last of his patience. The Captain swiveled to face Reed, and addressed him like an angry teacher confronting a particularly dull schoolboy. “Where are we, Malcolm?”
Reed colored slightly. “Sir?”
“This room,” Archer demanded, jerking his head at the surroundings while keeping his gaze fastened on the Lieutenant, “what did it used to be?”
Reed hesitated, clearly at a loss to understand Archer’s questions or the sudden heat in his tone. “It was a storage bay, sir ... conduit housings, I believe.”
“But it got retrofitted,” Archer stated flatly. “Starfleet went to a lot of trouble to turn it into our new command center. Why’s that, Malcolm?”
T’Pol thought she understood where the Captain’s hostile interview was leading, but Lieutenant Reed was still hopelessly confused. “Because of our ... mission, sir.”
“To find the Xindi, right?”
“Right,” Reed echoed, uncertain.
Archer leaned forward for emphasis. “So this state-of-the-art equipment was put in here to help us gather all the pieces of the puzzle ... figure out who’s trying to destroy Earth ...”
“Right,” Reed said, but his expression clearly asked, Where’s he going with this?
Archer made a sweeping gesture at the cutting-edge technology surrounding them; at last, he gave his frustration full rein and let his voice rise in anger. “Six weeks!” he exclaimed. “We’ve been in this Expanse for six weeks. What data have we gathered? What pieces of the puzzle have we started to put together? Not a single one! Humanity’s in trouble, Malcolm. We don’t have the luxury of being safe or cautious. And if the only lead we can find comes from a ‘freighter captain of questionable character,’ then that’s good enough for me. Understood?”
Reed straightened and projected the essence of pure military formality and respect. “Understood.”
His answer did nothing to mollify the Captain’s helpless ire. Archer rose, expression still taut, and left the chamber without a word.
Reed shared a look with T’Pol; his expression clearly asked, Is it me, or has the Captain finally gone mad from the responsibility?
It was a good question. T’Pol had come this far because she had trusted Archer not to react rashly to the threat, but to deal with it fairly, logically. It had never occurred to her that Archer might actually break under the strain.
She said nothing to Reed, merely fixed her gaze firmly back on her monitor and returned to her work.
Chapter 10
In the Enterprise mess, Hoshi Sato picked up her tray of tofu Thai curry and gazed out at the crowded room. There was little room left at the tables—which had been her intention. Normally, she took lunch at a later hour, in order to avoid the rush,