ARCHER, YOU ARE HEADED INTO A TRAP. ROMULAN SNEAK ATTACK COMING, BY REMOTE CONTROL.
But I cant just leave all those people here to die,he thought, anguished.
FREIGHTER NOT SAVABLE.
He slammed the side of his hand onto the intercom unit on the arm of his chair. “Archer to ONeill. Any luck transporting those survivors yet?
“Theres still too much graviton particle flux on the hull, Captain,ONeill said. “Im sorry. I wish I had better news for you, sir.
Damn.
FREIGHTER NOT SAVABLE.
I cant accept that!
“Captain! Reed cried. “The hull polarization system has gone down, just like life support did. I cant determine exactly why yet.
ButI can,Archer thought, recalling the dying Klingon woman. Defensive and tactical systems were the next dominoes to fall after life support.
TURNENTERPRISE ABOUT IMMEDIATELY, MAX WARP.
Forgive me.
But Archer seriously doubted he would ever develop a large enough capacity for self‑forgiveness to accept absolution for what he knew he had to do.
“Travis, get us out of here, Archer said. “Pedal to the metal.
Mayweather regarded him silently for a moment, his eyes widening into pools in which disappointment and relief commingled, as did both repugnance and understanding.
“Aye, Captain, the helmsman said, turning toward his console and bringing the ship into motion. The whine of the engines and the vibration in the deck plates signaled Enterprises quick transition from subluminal velocity to high warp speed.
Archer stared straight ahead at the viewer. The dying Kobayashi Maruimmediately fell away astern, dropping into the infinite, just another piece of flotsam on the cosmic ocean. Not wishing to see what he had already seen once in Traviss eyes and in the gazes of the rest of his crew, he continued staring straight ahead long seconds after the fuel carrier had completely vanished from sight.
“The lead vessel is pursuing, Reed said. “But shes slowly losing ground to us. The other vessels seem to be converging on the Kobayashi Maruand powering up their weapons.
Without tearing his eyes from the star field ahead of him, Archer opened an intercom channel. “Archer to engineering.
“Burch here, Captain.
“We need to get life support back up, Lieutenant.
“My people are already on it, Captain. We should have everything five‑by‑five before it even starts getting stuffy around here, sir.
“Captain Vance is hailing us again, Captain, Hoshi said quietly. After a long, pregnant pause she added, “What should I tell him?
He slowly turned to face her, and allowed his gaze to sweep the rest of the bridge. The eyes of everyone looked like small mirrors of shock and accusation.
He wondered if he could stand to see the same look in Admiral Gardners eyes, whether or not Starfleet Command ultimately vindicated the decision hed just made.
“The Klingons have opened fire on the Kobayashi Maru,Reed said, an audible quaver in his voice.
“One of the vessels neutronic fuel tanks appears to have exploded, causing a chain reaction, TPol reported a moment later from her science console. Then she drew away from her scanner and turned to face Archer directly. “Captain, the Kobayashi Maruhas been destroyed.
Archer closed his eyes tightly.
God forgive me.
FIFTY
Wednesday, July 23, 2155 San Francisco, Earth
P RIME M INISTER N ATHAN S AMUELS WOULDhave preferred to have a pleasantly dull and utterly uneventful morning, but he realized now that not only was it shaping up to be a most decidedly unpleasant day, it was likely only a sample of many weeks, or perhaps months, of similarly eventful days to come.
The Coalition Security Council had called yet another one of its now‑ubiquitous emergency sessions, and the decisions he expected todays meeting to yield had an even heavier air of gravitas than any action the body had taken during the previous several weeks. It was one thing to threaten war, but quite another to follow through and actually declare it. Regardless, the latest images Starfleet had relayed to the ministries of the United Earth government clearly showed that the nascent alliance had an extremely limited number of options.
All of the Coalition delegatesincluding those representing the most recently inducted members, Draylax and Alpha Centauriwere seated at their customary spots at the semicircular array of conference tables. Mounted on the wall at one end of the room was a wide, flat video monitor, which played and replayed an endless, grainy loop of the previous days debacle in the Gamma Hydra sector. Starfleet Admirals Sam Gardner and Gregory Black, MACO commandant General George Casey, and several other members of Starfleets top brass were seated near the giant viewscreen, their expressions uniformly grave and somber.
“I still believe that the Klingons mustbe involved in this, Gora bim Gral of Tellar said in his customary testy manner. “Note that only theirships have allegedly succumbed to this so‑called Romulan superweapon. Therefore I think they must be acting in collusion with the Romulans.
Samuels saw Vulcan Foreign Minister Soval glance toward Ambassadors LNel and Solkar, one eyebrow raised. But none of the three Vulcans made any audible response to Grals assertion, leaving the minister to wonder what they might be thinking.
“We concur, said Grethe Zhor, one of the two newest delegates to the Council. “Draylax has already been a target of one of these deadly attacks. Regardless of the so‑called evidence Captain Archer has gathered for this council, the fact remains that it was Klingon vessels that fired the volleys that killed so many of our people, and destroyed the Tau Cetan freighter Kobayashi Maru.
Anlenthoris chVhendreni rose to his feet, the Andorian foreign ministers cerulean antennae bent almost parallel to the white‑maned slope of his skull. “The images clearlyshow the presence of a Romulan ship, as well as the Klingon vessels that destroyed the Kobayashi Maru. Are any of you really nave enough to believe this to be a coincidence? That the Romulans just happenedto be at the site of an apparent Klingon attack? He glared around the assemblage, reinforcing his point with his icy gaze before sitting down again.
Gral snorted. “Has no one considered that if the Klingons areresponsible, that they may be using a Romulan ship in order to misdirect our retaliation? This is only the second piece of evidence we have seen that the Romulans might be involved in anti‑Coalition aggression, however peripherally, and yet we have seen manyexamples of Klingon barbarism!
“Two other attacks occurred just last night, including one in mysystem, Centauri IIIs Ambassador Jie Cong Li said. “Why has Starfleet not yet made even a preliminary report about either of them?
Interior Minister Haroun al‑Rashid cleared his throat, then spoke. “Two other attacks did indeed occur last night. One was directed at the science outpost on Calder II, and the second incident happened near Alpha Centauri. Starfleet dispatched Earths second NX‑class vessel, Columbia,to assist in Alpha Centauris defense.
“And what happened after that? Gral asked, wrinkling his porcine nose.
Samuels knew that al‑Rashid must have been squirming inside, although his exterior looked enviably cool and calm. Both men had been present at Admiral Gardners secret briefing, and therefore knew the potentially explosive secret that both Earth and Starfleet had deemed it prudent to conceal, at least temporarily, from their Coalition peers: the fact that both Columbiaand a source on Calder II had confirmed that Vulcan military ships had initiated last nights attacks.