The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels [96]
Trip nodded to Ch’uihv as they walked, but he schooled his face into blank impassivity. He simply wasn’t buying Ch’uihv’s story; the old man’s wounds had appeared far too recent to have been inflicted by the Romulan military to which he was so eager to return.
Trip was absolutely convinced that Ehrehin was indeed here entirely against his will, just as the old man had said.
And as he followed Phuong into the spacious guest suite they were sharing, Trip was just as certain that Ch’uihv- or Sopek- had listened to every word of their exchange with the elderly scientist, no doubt hoping that he and Phuong would unwittingly function as Ejhoi Ormiin interrogators, using Cunaehr’s privileged relationship with Ehrehin to entice him to divulge some previously hidden fact regarding the new stardrive.
“Well, what do we do now?” Trip asked Phuong once they were alone together in the suite’s common area.
Phuong tipped his head to one side, as though listening to voices that no one else could hear. Trip realized that he must be consulting the microelectronic gear sewn into his clothing, checking the room for listening devices.
“At least we can speak freely here,” Phuong said at length. He looked Trip squarely in the eye, his face pale even for a Romulan. “I think we screwed up badly in trusting these people.”
Trip’s brow furrowed. “’We’?”
“I mean the whole bureau. All right, me. They followed my recommendations, after all.”
Holding up a placating hand, Trip said, “I’m not keeping score. At least we were both completely right about at least one thing.”
“And what’s that?” Phuong wanted to know.
“The fact that the Romulan Empire really is the biggest danger facing Earth right now. The only real question is which Romulan regime is going to take charge of going to war against us.”
Phuong chuckled, but the sound contained no mirth. “That’s pretty cold comfort.”
Eager to rescue his partner from a funk that wasn’t going to do either of them any good, Trip decided to change the subject. “At least we’re pretty sure we know how much Ch’uihv knows so far.”
Phuong shrugged. “Thanks presumably to Ehrehin’s contacts in the Romulan military, we know that a Romulan admiral named Valdore is planning to launch an attack against some unspecified Coalition planet- most likely Coridan Prime- in the very near future. One of their goals is no doubt to discourage the upcoming signing of the Coalition Compact. But that really isn’t much more than we knew or suspected already.”
“At least the old man hasn’t drawn diagrams of the new space drive for Ch’uihv’s people,” Trip said. Yet, he added silently, feeling a distinct chill at the notion.
“That’s according to Ehrehin,” Phuong said, still sounding disconsolate.
Determined to keep Phuong focused on keeping them both alive, Trip said, “As I think I heard somebody say not very long ago, we have to make our leaps of faith somewhere. Speaking of which, I’m guessing you’re taking the rest of Ehrehin’s claims at face value.”
Phuong nodded emphatically. “I don’t believe what Ch’uihv says about Ehrehin being only ‘intermittently rational.’ I’ve seen enough prisoners- hell, I’ve interrogated enough of them- to know the difference between a lie, a delusion, and the plain truth. That man is as rational as you or I, and I believe he’s telling the truth.”
For a moment Trip wondered how much that opinion was worth; after all, it was obvious that Phuong had begun to question his own ability to read people accurately. And we both voluntarily marched right into this situation, he thought. Just how “rational” does that make either one of us?
And something else was gnawing at Trip as well. “At least he seems rational now,” he said. “And frankly, I have one major doubt about even that.”
Phuong raised an eyebrow quizzically. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that it seemed a little bit too easy to convince him that I was his assistant, miraculously returned from the dead. If Ehrehin was really on top of his game, wouldn’t he have asked a few