“Starfleet didput you in charge of it, Trip said, keeping his expression guarded. Trying his best to be charitable, he supposed that Stillwells annoying tendency to try to micromanage and second-guess his work on Romulus was an outgrowth of his management of Earths warp-seven program, in addition to his covert duties seeking out related information from alien worlds under the auspices of the bureau. He didnt envy the man his job. Still, he couldnt help but wonder how badly Stillwell would have screwed up Trips task on Romulus were the two men to trade places.
Stillwell nodded. “They did indeed. And I find it hard to believe that I could fool them for any length of time into believing that my team was making significant progress if it really wasnt.
A sinking feeling developed deep in Trips belly, but he tried not to show any discomfiture. Had Stillwell just admitted that Earths warp-seven research had reached some sort of impasse?
“How isthe project going, Captain? Trip wanted to know.
Stillwells scowl deepened. “Thats not a data point thatyou need to know at the moment, Commander.
Trips shoulders suddenly felt heavier as the weight of his own responsibilities bore down on him.
“My point is that I seriously doubt that the old mans superiors are fools either,Stillwell said. “Just as I doubt his claim that hes deliberately taking his research team down a blind alley to contain his peoples militarism. But if he isif then sooner or later Admiral Valdore will spot the lie and replace Doctor Ehrehin with somebody who will get the job done.
“For whatever its worth, Captain, I dont think there isanybody else here capable of getting the job done, Trip said. “Im a pretty fair warp engineer myself, and I cant make heads or tails of the technical gobbledygook hes been putting in his progress reports. I cant see how Valdores people will do any better.
“Lets hope youre right. Maybe Doctor Ehrehin is, as you once so colorfully put it, baffling Valdore with bullshit. But the old man knows who you really are. He knows your agenda. And he knows how impressed you are by his credentials, as well as by his alleged ideals.
“Therefore you must face the possibility that he is playing you, Commander. He may be conductingreal warp-seven research behind your back as we speak. He might actually be making solid progress toward the creation of a prototype stardrive. Progress that you are unaware of, at least so far.
Trip fumed quietly. “If anything like that was going on, wed both know about it by now.
“I have no doubt of that, Commander.If you discovered it.
Trip was finding it increasingly difficult to avoid delivering a sharp retort. “So now youre worried that Im incompetent. On top of maybe having gone native.
Stillwell paused, then chuckled, his frown suddenly melting into a look of almost fatherly concern. “Not at all, Commander. But as long as you have vulnerabilities, Im going to remind you of them from time to time. Making the good-faith error in judgment of trusting someone too much and the problem of going native are very similar pitfalls. Its very hard to know precisely when youve stepped into the former. And once youve done it, its deceptively easy to slide from there to the latter. The difference is a matter of degree, a line along the same continuum.
Hoping both to contain his own rising ire and to change the subject, Trip forced a smile and said, “You know, Captain, one of the main reasons Harris recruited me into this cockamamie secret bureau of yours was because Im a people person. A big part of that is being able to tell when somebody is lying to your face.
“I certainly hope your faith in your own judgment is justified, Commander. As well as your faith in the old mans motivations. But if it turns out its not, youd better be prepared to do whats necessary.
Trip frowned again. “You know all my contingency plans, Captain. If I find the plans for a realwarp-seven prototype here, Im gonna take it. Failing that, Ill destroy it, and wipe every computer I can find thats carrying the files.
“Very good. But youll need an additional contingency plan as well.
“What do you mean?
“Wiping computer files is an incomplete solution at best,Stillwell said. “You can never be sure you got to all the backup copies. Computer techs can often reconstruct files unless you out-and-out vaporize the hardware substrate. And original research can always be reconstituted as long as it still exists inside somebodys head.
Trip didnt like what he was hearing one bit. “What are you saying, Captain?
Stillwell spoke in a voice as sharp and cold and unforgiving as a guillotine execution on a January morning. “Im saying, Commander, that youd better be prepared to kill Doctor Ehrehin iRamnau trAvrak.
Trip could only nod his head numbly. He felt some sort of “spy autopilot take over for him during the remainder of his check-in with Stillwell, as both men crossed a few routine matters off their respective lists for the next few minutes before the captain signed off.
Trip wasnt sure how long he just sat there afterward, simply staring into the dead black screen of his subspace unit. Had Stillwell allowed the weight of responsibility to crush the humanity out of him, to the point where he saw paranoiac conspiracies that didnt exist? There was no question in Trips mind that the man was entirely too jingoistic to see the universe as it really was, in all its subtle complexities and nearly indistinguishable shades of gray.
But Trip also knew that he had to face the possibility that Stillwell had judged Ehrehin correctly. He searched his soul. Had he allowed his own humanity, his own willingness to believe the best about people, to put the very existence of the human species in jeopardy? He truly didnt think so. Despite the fact that Ehrehin was unquestionably still a loyal Romulan, a man whose main priority was the welfare of his own people, Trip felt certain that the elderly scientists commitment to the larger morality of peace was a sincere one as well.
But he also knew that hed have to face squarely, sooner or later, the main question that Stillwell had raised: What if the security of Earth and the Coalition required the destruction of more than just Ehrehins research records?
FIVE
The Year of Kahless 781 The Klingon-Romulan border
B ENEATH HIS LONG MUSTACHE, Nahtan smiled, displaying the grin of a toQvulture. Today was a glorious day. His DVagh-class battle cruiser, the I.K.S. Veqlargh Jajlo,was in top shape, having just undergone a thorough refit and overhaul at the shipyards orbiting Praxis. His complement of weapons was full, and his crew was rested and ready for a battle.
And now they had one.
“Ready disruptor cannons! he ordered, standing up from his chair in the center of the ships bridge and stalking closer to the main viewer. Around him, the warriors at his service bustled to comply.