The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels [102]
Gardner stroked his salt-and-pepper beard as he leaned forward toward his own screen. “Captain, you will proceed back to Sector Zero Zero One, where you will assist in preparing a defense of Earth. There may be any number of attacks against us in the days leading up to the signing of the Coalition Compact. That event could be a lightning rod for the discontented across the quadrant. We need you here .”
The Admiral leaned back again in his chair. “The Coridanites have ample ship and weapon resources to repel any Romulan attack. These… rumors you have heard may well be a feint by the Romulans intended to draw Starfleet resources to Coridan, thereby leaving Earth largely vulnerable. I’m certain that I don’t need to remind you what happened the last time we let ourselves get caught with our pants down because our flagship was parsecs away.”
“Sir, Earth’s defense systems have been significantly improved since the Xindi attacks,” Archer said, irked by Gardner’s cheap shot.
“They’ve not been improved anywhere near enough to suit me ,” Gardner said brusquely, barreling forward before Archer could say anything further. “At this juncture in the Coalition’s development, now is definitely not the time to put our faith in rumors and scraps of information about Coridan, or to second-guess Romulan intentions in a way that leaves our flanks exposed.”
He pointed toward Archer. “Let me be blunt, Captain. You are to get Enterprise back to Earth, double-time and posthaste. Do I make myself clear?”
Archer wasn’t happy with Gardner’s decision, nor with his chiding tone, but he nodded his assent to a superior officer, as he was trained to do. “You do, sir.”
“Good. Then I will expect to see you by this time next week. Gardner out.” A moment later, the viewscreen replaced the admiral’s frowning image with the blue-and-white logo of Earth’s Starfleet.
Archer’s stomach churned as he examined his ever-narrowing set of options. Because of everything they’d learned so far, he was convinced that the Aenar were indeed en route to the Romulans- if they weren’t already in the clutches of their military- and that one way or another, they were going to be used as deadly weapons against the Coalition. Beyond those concerns, and his debt to Shran, he was also keenly anxious about Trip’s covert spy mission into Romulan territory.
A part of him fantasized that Trip would find out some vital piece of information, break protocol, and contact Enterprise, and that they would swoop in not only to save the day, but to save Trip as well. He smiled ruefully at the thought, knowing it was as implausible as the plot to any bad holovid adventure he’d watched as a boy.
The door to his quarters chimed.
“Come in,” he said. He was surprised to see that it was T’Pol. “I didn’t expect to see you quite so soon. How’s Shran?”
“Still recovering in sickbay, Captain, though very quickly, according to Phlox,” T’Pol said.
“That’s good news,” Archer said, feeling real relief at the news. He hadn’t realized until this moment just how important it was to him to see the Andorian survive and succeed in his personal quest.
“His capacity to recall stellar cartographical details is evidently quite prodigious. He was also determined to relay the information to us as quickly as possible, regardless of the pain he was experiencing. Most importantly, he was able to pinpoint for us the exact region through which the transport ship was traveling when he made contact with Jhamel’s mind.”
She handed him a padd that displayed a navigational heading. “My calculations show that the slavers are less than a day ahead of us at our maximum speed. If Shran is correct, we should have little difficulty catching