“Archer here. It’s good to hear your voice. You ready to come home?”
“Thanks, Captain, but not quite yet. There’s been a wholemess of complications.”
“Are you all right?” Archer asked, frowning with concern as he leaned forward. He wished there was a visual component to the message, so that he could see his old friend’s face again.
“I’m okay, but Coridan’s in trouble. The Romulans aredefinitely targeting the planet. But it doesn’t seem to be an invasion. It’s more of an annihilation.”
Archer was stunned. “You’re sureabout this?”
“Absolutely. Some time in the next seventy‑two hours, they’re striking Coridan. You’ve got to warn them.”
“Any idea how they’ll attack?”
“No, sir. What I–”the rest of Trip’s reply was cut off in static.
Archer hit the com button. “Hoshi, I’ve lost the signal. Boost our reception.”
“Aye, sir,”Hoshi said.
The wait for Trip’s signal to be regained was torture. Archer’s mind reeled with the news. The annihilation of Coridan in the next seventy‑two hours.The thought was ghastly almost beyond imagination.
“ I can’t reestablish the signal,” Hoshi said. “Whoever it was, they’ll have to start sending to us again.”
“Okay, thank you.” Archer couldn’t wait any longer. He knew that he had to warn the Coridanites, andinform his superiors on Earth. “Hoshi, raise the highest Coridan government official you can, and pipe them onto my screen.”
While he waited to speak to the Coridanite government, he tapped in the emergency code to contact Admiral Gardner on Earth. At the moment it was 4:50 A.M. Pacific time on Earth, but the news he’d just received certainly qualified as an emergency.
Archer’s desktop screen jumped to life as a weary Gardner appeared on it, yawning as he pulled on a robe. Archer saw the ready light that Hoshi had sent from the bridge, and his finger hovered over the appropriate button.
“ This had better be damned important, Captain,” Gardner said grumpily. “I have some crucial meetings first thing in the morning.”
“It’s vitallyimportant,” Archer said. He tapped the button, and the screen split in two. Half of the screen now showed the face of a Coridan official, someone in the diplomatic corps, Archer thought, judging from the Coridanite’s ceremonial mask. “Admiral Gardner, I’ve patched us in on a conference transmission with the Coridan official…” His voice trailed off.
“ Legate Hanshev,” the Coridanite said. It sounded like a female voice, but Archer couldn’t be certain that the mask wasn’t electronically altering Hanshev’s speech.
Gardner composed himself quickly, his bearing changing almost instantly. “All right, Captain Archer. You have our attention.”
Time to put on my best game,Archer thought. “We have been given intelligence indicating that the Romulans are planning some kind of strike against Coridan in the next seventy‑twohours. We’ve been told that this will notbe an invasion, but rather an attempt to destroy as much of the planet and its resources as possible.”
The Coridanite’s face was completely hidden behind the inhuman‑looking mask, but her body language clearly registered shock. “How did you come upon this information?”
“We had heard rumors of such an attack being planned,” Archer said. “I aided in arrangements to send…trustworthy people to investigate the rumors firsthand.” He leaned forward, trying to look as serious as he could. “Let me be plain. I trust the person who gathered this information implicitly. I would stake my life on the truthfulness of this person’s data.”
Gardner seemed to be gritting his teeth, and his eyebrows had both furrowed down into a deep scowl. “And what are you proposing to do about this, Captain Archer?”
“Well, my immediate step was to contact you both,” Archer said. “This will give Coridan Prime’s government as much time as possible to evacuate its people, or mount an attack, or erect defenses. I’d recommend all three. Secondly, I request permission to divert Enterpriseto the Coridan system immediately. Perhaps we can help Coridan Prime stop this attack, or at least provide support for Coridan’s defense and evacuation efforts.”
Gardner’s eyes narrowed. “We need you back here at Earth, Captain. I thought I had made that crystal clear before.”
Archer pushed his temper down. “That was when all I had was rumors. We now know them to be facts.”
“ Youbelieve them to be facts,” Gardner said, his voice rising in volume.
Before Archer could argue his point further, the Coridanite legate spoke again. “Admiral,I believe your captain’s words. We, too, have our sources, and the threat from the Romulans has been an ongoing concern for some time. Now, it would appear that the threat is finally imminent.
“As to your offer of aid, Captain, while it is generous, I believe that there isn’t anything further you can do that our own ships cannot,”Hanshev said. “If your superior says you’re needed on your own homeworld, I will release you from your promise to assist us.”
Archer’s mouth dropped open. He knew that the Coridanites were an intensely private and proud people, but refusing aid during such a time of crisis seemed beyond the pale.
“ Do you have any further information that might aid the Coridanites?” Gardner asked, a slight smile hidden underneath the edges of his salt‑and‑pepper mustache. “Or should we allow them to get on to thevitally important tasks ahead of them, while you fulfill yourown mission?”
Inwardly, Archer was seething, but he swallowed his anger. “That’s all the information I have. Seventy‑two hours.”
“I thank you for your warning and your offer,”Legate Hanshev said, bowing his head slightly. “We will make the best possible use of your warning.”The Coridanite’s image disappeared, allowing Gardner’s to take up the entirety of the screen’s frame once again.
“ That would have been an excellent play, if it had worked, Captain,” Gardner said, his expression returning to its earlier fury.
“That was no ‘play,’ sir, it was–”
“ It was an attempt to circumvent mydirect orders!”Gardner shouted, interrupting him.
Archer, his tone dangerously close to insubordination, countered, “People’s liveswill be lost. Waris on its way.”
Gardner glared at him for a moment, then finally spoke. “The Coridanites don’t want your help. And you are due back on Earth.”
On the screen, the admiral lifted his hand, clearly ready to end the communication, but paused just before doing so. “Let me make one thing clear, Captain. This stunt you just pulled…if anything remotely similarever happens again, I’ll have you cashiered out of the fleet.”
The screen went black for a moment before the Starfleet logo reappeared.
Well, that didn’t go all that well,Archer thought, his ire up and his ego bruised. He wished for a moment that Porthos were here beside him, instead of in his quarters. He could use some nonjudgmental canine company right about now.