The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels [40]
“But that isn’t the end of it. Our intelligence sources show strong indications that the Romulans are on the verge of perfecting a new generation of starships, vessels capable of reaching speeds of at least warp seven.”
Trip couldn’t keep his jaw from falling open. “Warp seven,” he said quietly. Five years after the launch of Enterprise, Earth was still working the remaining kinks out of Henry Archer’s warp five engine. “That puts them even with the Coridan shipyards.”
Harris nodded. “Even Coridan will be hard-pressed to counter a Romulan invasion of Coalition territory, which we believe is coming soon.”
“A warp-seven drive would use one hell of a lot of power,” Trip said, running power-curve calculations in his head.
“Agreed. And that means that the Romulans will need to get their hands on huge quantities of dilithium- which the Coridan system planets have in far greater abundance than any of the other Coalition worlds do.”
“So Coridan must be the Romulans’ first target,” Trip said, swallowing hard. “For lots of reasons.”
“Once the Romulans annex the most productive dilithium mines in known space, the Coalition wouldn’t stand a chance of resisting strikes from a Coridan beach-head. Tellar, Andoria, even Vulcan would fall like dominoes following a long war of attrition, bolstered by Coridan’s captured resources and the Romulan expansion ethic.”
“And then Earth.” Trip’s voice was pitched barely above a whisper.
“It certainly isn’t a pretty picture, Commander.”
Trip gripped the sides of his desk tightly. His head was spinning, and only in part because of all the tequila he’d just consumed with Malcolm.
“How do you know all this, Harris?”
When Harris responded, his tone remained patient, almost like that of a college professor conducting an introductory lecture. Or perhaps, Trip thought, like a very slick salesman.
“As Lieutenant Reed has no doubt already told you, Commander, I am part of an organization that has access to numerous intelligence networks and other resources, including some not immediately available either to Starfleet or most of the other agencies of United Earth’s government.”
“And is that who you represent? Earth’s government?”
“I suppose the answer to that question depends upon whom you ask. Let’s just say we represent Earth’s long-term interests.”
Harris’s words weren’t doing anything to allay Trip’s nagging suspicions. “That sounds to me pretty much like what John Frederick Paxton said about Terra Prime.”
“Hardly,” Harris said with a gentle chuckle. “Paxton is a xenophobe and a terrorist. And he’s exactly where he belongs right now- in prison. He saw Earth’s contact with other sentient races as something to be feared, and therefore curtailed. We see that contact as inevitable and beneficial- but we’re not so naive as to believe there won’t be dangers that have to be managed very carefully along the way.
“My group is part of Starfleet, Commander, and it’s keeping an extremely watchful eye on what’s left of Paxton’s network, to prevent terrorist acts like those committed by Terra Prime from ever happening here again. But we’re keeping even closer tabs on Earth’s many potential interstellar adversaries. Most notably the Romulan Star Empire.”
They’re part of Starfleet, Trip thought, still having a little difficulty digesting the concept, even though Malcolm had already told him as much in the crew mess.
“You say you’re an arm of Starfleet, Harris,” he finally said aloud. “But you seem to be operating independently of Starfleet’s direct control. How is it you can get away with that?”
“You seem to be implying that there’s something illicit about my group’s activities, Commander.”
Trip shrugged, and restrained himself from commenting on the trouble Harris’s clandestine organization had caused Malcolm a few months back. Malcolm’s activities on Harris’s behalf had very nearly gotten him court-martialed.
“I’m just saying