Trip scowled. “How the hell could youknow so much about Valdores plans?
Before Sopek could say so much as a word, the answer to Trips own question now seemed blindingly obvious to him: The only plausible way for this man to know as much as he did about sensitive military matters like the new Romulan starship-telecapture systemwhile apparently running a dissident group with impunitywould be if he had been secretly working for Valdore all along, allowing the admiral to use him to test the loyalty of underlings like Ehrehin and Terix.
This man could stand astride the twilight espionage worlds of both Vulcan and Romulus, posing as an enemy of the latter while discreetly pushing buttons on Admiral Valdores behalf.
An even simpler but far more chilling explanation for Sopeks behavior toward him occurred to Trip then: What if this cruel son of a bitch is only keeping me alive to make me watch the bloodbath hes really planning?
The only answer the other man offered to Trips question-cum-accusation was an enigmatic half-smile. The mannerism prompted Trip to wonder, not for the first time, whether this man had been born Vulcan or Romulan.
“Have a seat now, Commander, Sopek said, his smile hardening into something akin to sharpened steel. “I dont want you getting underfoot after the crew and I become preoccupied dealing with the arrenhehwiuasystems target.
Trip nodded. Hyperconscious of the armed uhlans watchful eye, he slowly moved toward a nearby unattended console, one that lay even closer to Sopek than the dead panel to which he had been posted earlier. He wants to “deal with the Romulan weapons target,Trip thought. Hes not here to help theKobayashi Maru establish an Earth-Vulcan listening post. Hes here to stamp it out.
He wondered ruefully whether his suspicions were well founded, or if he had merelyfinallystarted to thinklike a Romulan.
“We are venting atmosphere rapidly,Enterprise! said the increasingly frantic voice from the wounded freighter.
If Sopek really is secretly Valdores guy,Trip thought, then he might be the one whos really running the telecapture gadget he seems to know so damned much about. And he would probably have to do it all fromthis ship.
“Enterprise! the man on the Kobayashi Marucried, barely outshouting the background deluge of static. “We have very little time left to us!
The repetition of the name of the ship that had been his home for four years brought another horrifying realization in for a hard landing right on top of Trips souclass="underline" With the Kobayashi Maruso badly damaged, it made no sense to bring the Romulan Empires new starship-hi-jacking device to bear against her.
Enterprise,however, was quite another matter.
Trip sat on the chair beside the new console, staying directly in Sopeks line of sight so as not to rouse any undue suspicion. Captain Archer wouldnt let a wholefield of gravitic mines keep him from trying to pull off a rescue operation,he thought. Especially if he knows about theKobayashi Maru s secret mission.
Trip didnt want to do anything that might abort the rescue op Archer was sure to attempt. But he also knew that Earth could afford the loss of the Kobayashi Maruincluding everyone and everything aboard herfar better than it could afford to allow one of her NX-class starships to fall into Romulan hands.
Gotta get a warning toEnterprise, he told himself as he discreetly activated the consoles main actuator.
“Dont bother trying what I thinkyoure trying, Commander, Sopek said from behind him. “That station is only a backup environmental-systems monitor. I put you at that particular station only to keep a somewhat closer eye on youand so you wouldnt succumb to the temptation to try to patch into our subspace transmitter.
Trip allowed himself a few moments to read enough of the pictographs on the console displays to confirm what Sopek had just told him. Then he allowed his hands to fall limply to his sides.
Shit!
But there had to be someway to use the console to get a message out to his former captain. As bad as things had frequently gotten at times during his long sojourn in Romulan space, he had yet to find himself facing the truly insurmountable odds of a no-win situation.
Several agonizingly long minutes passed, like ice boulders slowly rolling down a hill in reluctant deference to Tritons skimpy gravity. Once he realized that neither Sopek nor any of his increasingly busy crew seemed able or willing to invest much attention in him, he resumed his quiet exploration of the console before him. He made no attempt to move furtively, since that would probably attract more of the unwelcome attentions of the disruptor-toting guard whose eyes he could already feel drilling into the back of his head like laser-powered asteroid borers.
But he didtry to hide his triumphant smile from view after the answer finally came to him.
FORTY-SEVEN
EnterpriseNX-01, Gamma Hydra sector
“L EAVING SECTION ELEVEN, C APTAIN , Mayweather said. “Entering section ten. Contact with the Kobayashi Maruon long-range navigational sensors.
“Very good, Travis, Archer said, wincing slightly as he leaned forward on his chair. Despite the lingering pain in his side, he found the movement hard to resist, as though by gaining a few additional centimeters of proximity to the main bridge viewer, he might make any lurking hull-breach hazards more apparent and avoidable. “Steady as she goes. And keep scanning for gravitic mines or anything else that might sink us.
“The sensors are already tuned to maximum resolution enhancement, Captain, said TPol, most of her attention apparently riveted to the hooded scanner on her science station.
“Tactical systems are also running everything through a pretty fine sieve, Captain, said Reed, who stood at the aft tactical array, entering commands and studying representations of power curves and marching columns of figures. “Phase cannons and photonic torpedoes are ready as well. Ill be damned if I let anything bigger than a Ping-Pong ball get within ten thousand klicks of us.
Despite his lingering mixed feelings about the unauthorized actions TPol and Reed had recently taken, Archer was nevertheless grateful for the restoration of the core of his alpha-watch crew. The entire bridge crew seemed keenly aware, as he was, that this far away from any human-inhabited world, rescue was a commodity that was strictly BYOBring Your Own. All Starfleet personnel, from midshipmen up through the admiralty, recognized this sobering fact.
But in the case of the vessel toward which Enterprisenow hurtled, rescue was indeed on the way. The master and commander of theS.S. Kobayashi Maru has got to be the luckiest freighter captain in the history of maritime disasters,Archer thought.