by Dayton Ward
Not even bothering to respond to the request, Gold turned and left the room. As the door slid shut to block his view of the seemingly smug Marshall, he wished he could just as easily block the man from his ship, and his mind.
CHAPTER
6
As he walked the corridors of the massive Rhaaxan orbital platform with P8 Blue and Soloman, Tev made a conscious effort to keep from touching anything. Having brushed up against a bulkhead and pulling back a hand covered in grime, it was a mistake he was determined not to repeat. It seemed that everything, from the walls to the surfaces of control consoles to storage containers and tool lockers scattered throughout the station, was filthy. If he could have used anti-gravity boots to avoid making contact with the deck plating, he would have done that, too.
“If there is an afterlife and a place of damnation,” he said, “then this could very well be its lobby.” He grimaced as he tried once more to clean his still-soiled fingers on a small towel from his tool kit. Once again, his attempt failed.
Walking beside the da Vinci ’s second officer, P8 Blue said, “As an engineer, surely this is not the first time your hands have gotten dirty?”
Tev snorted derisively as he regarded her. “On rare occasions, of course, when no other alternatives presented themselves. Thankfully I have a structural systems specialist like yourself to help with such demands today. Who better to go traipsing through the innards of this overgrown boil on the buttocks of the universe?”
“That is just the lieutenant commander’s way of saying he appreciates your skills, Pattie,” said Soloman, using the affectionate nickname many members of the da Vinci ’s crew employed for the Nasat. Indicating Tev with the wave of a hand, the Bynar added, “He expressed similar admiration for me just yesterday, when it became apparent that a thorough scan of the station’s computer systems would require crawling through a service conduit to reach the primary computer core.”
Tev said nothing, allowing his two companions their moment of levity. In the time since his posting to the da Vinci ’s S.C.E. contingent, it had taken him a while to grow accustomed to the peculiarities of the team. Now that he had worked with the crew for several months, he had a better sense of their growing respect for him and his accomplishments, as he had for theirs.
Fabian Stevens in particular had taken quite a bit of time to warm to him, especially considering that Tev had replaced the man’s best friend who had been killed during a previous mission. That was not to say that he and Stevens were close friends, but a mutual respect for one another’s position and abilities had been formed. Despite this, Stevens still seemed to enjoy the verbal jousts in which the two of them engaged, though Tev knew the repartee was no longer as ill-humored as it had been in the beginning. It was indulged in by many of the team and often triggered by his own behavior, and though he would never publicly admit it, he rather enjoyed the banter.
Besides, when it came down to it, the da Vinci ’s S.C.E. team was an impressive collection of talented specialists, and the missions they had gone on over the past few months had engendered happiness in Tev for being a part of it. If maintaining the team’s high standard of performance meant striking a balance between his forthright approach and the rest of the group’s jocularity, then so be it.
That did not mean that they should be privy to his methods, however. I do have a reputation to protect, after all, he mused.
The humor also helped to make their current assignment bearable. Tramping through the mammoth freight transfer station, one of four positioned in high orbit above the surface of Rhaax III, had proven to be an even more strenuous task than Tev had predicted. Nearly three times the size of the smaller, modular-type R1 orbital stations used as star-bases throughout Federation space for more than a century, the platform boasted three dozen cargo bays, each harboring its own docking port and ship maintenance services. There was also a central control room, engineering and computer sections, as well as barracks and support facilities for personnel assigned to the platform along with temporary berthing for the crews of visiting ships.
So far as Tev was concerned, this entire affair had amounted to one gigantic waste of time. In all the weeks they had spent scouring Rhaax III and its array of orbiting transfer stations, they had yet to identify anything even resembling a large-scale weapon, biogenic or otherwise.
What was that human expression? Chasing a wild goose? Tev had heard it used many times in the past by human engineers who believed they were working toward an unattainable goal, though he himself never had understood the analogy. While he was happy that the Rhaaxans seemed to have nothing hidden away that could cause the already troubled colonists even more strife, he almost wished they could discover something, anything, simply to provide a welcome break in their monotonous routine. In the months since he signed on, they had undertaken missions that were worthy of Tev’s considerable talents—and that of the rest of the team, of course. But even the mission to Kharzh’ulla, difficult as it was for Tev personally, was preferable to this tedium.
He was at least thankful that the Rhaaxans working on the station seemed civil enough, particularly in light of the incident at the bar, as well as a few other skirmishes between da Vinci personnel and the locals in other locations. Captain Gold had seen fit to restrict the crew’s shore leave activities to those areas and establishments where proprietors already had welcomed the Starfleet visitors, a move that seemed to satisfy many Rhaaxan dissenters. While there still had been the occasional verbal dispute, the violence appeared to be contained, for the moment at least, with the uneasy truce extending up to the transfer stations. The workers on all of the platforms were cooperating with the various inspection teams, and no negative incidents had been reported of which Tev was aware.
None of which meant that he was happy to be here, however.
“So,” he said as they turned a corner in the corridor, “where do we stand on the inspection?”
Reviewing the tricorder she carried, Pattie replied, “We are nearly finished, Commander. There are two more docking areas to examine as well as one computer subprocessing center.”
Pattie’s eight extremities made her the perfect candidate for moving about the variable gravity areas of the docking and cargo areas as well as the engineering sections, while Soloman’s own diminutive stature was ideally suited to navigating the narrow crawlways connecting the complex’s twelve computer subprocessing centers. That left Tev to take care of the command center, along with less glamorous areas of the station. He had not believed he would find an area of the orbital platform dirtier than some of the engineering sections, at least until he had seen the berthing spaces.
“Marvelous,” Tev said as the Nasat completed her report. “With any luck, we can condemn this orbiting cesspool and get permission to maneuver it into the sun.”
Soloman regarded him with confusion etching his pale features. “Unfortunately, the Rhaaxan Assembly is not likely to give us the authority to carry out such an action, Commander.”
“Thank you for clarifying that,” the Tellarite replied dryly, pleased that he and Soloman were able to engage in the sarcastic banter that was so characteristic of the da Vinci crew.
The deafening wail that pierced the air the next instant nearly made him jump out of his skin, the alarm echoing off the narrow walls of the passageway. The lighting panels set into the metal plates forming the corridor’s ceiling changed from their normal white illumination to a warm, glowing orange.
“Alert,” a lifeless, mechanical voice called out above the din, “life support system fault, Beli Section. Dispatch damage control team.” The message continued to repeat.
“Where is that?” Tev shouted, trying to hear himself over the noise.
Checking her tricorder again, Pattie pointed down the corridor. “It is the next section, Commander.”
“Let’s go!” the Tellarite said, taking off at a trot down the hallway. “Maybe there’s something we can do to help.”
With Tev lea
ding the way, the three engineers turned another corner and scrambled through a large pressure hatch, entering what he recognized as one of the station’s two main thoroughfares. Running symmetrically down both sides of the platform’s long axis, the passageways accessed nearly the entire complex.
The first thing Tev saw was a group of five Rhaaxans, all dressed in the dark gray coverall typically worn by workers assigned to the station. They were moving frantically around a large, oval-shaped storage tank. Measuring more than twenty meters in diameter, he knew that this was one of thirty-six such reservoirs containing oxygen and other inert gases. Combined in the proper amounts by the platform environmental control systems, the gases served the Rhaaxans’ life support requirements on the station.
“Shut down the flow, now!” Tev heard one of the workers shout as the three Starfleet officers approached the scene, and there was no mistaking the trail of gas jetting from the tank. A pale green vapor, it was escaping into the air and beginning to fill the corridor.
“What happened?” he asked as he drew abreast of one of the workers, a supervisor that he recognized from an earlier meeting named Tamaryst.
The Rhaaxan turned to him, the illumination from the alert signals giving his orange skin an ashen pallor and accentuating the anger clouding his features. Tev saw that Tamaryst’s expression appeared to be inflamed when the two made eye contact.
“What does it look like?” he replied. “One of my people accidentally punctured the storage tank with his torch.” Looking away from the commander, Tamaryst pointed to one of his companions. “Get an emergency patch kit. We need to seal this thing before the whole tank bleeds out.”
Stepping forward, Tev said, “We can help.” Unslinging the tool kit from his shoulder, the Tellarite opened it and reached inside, extracting a laser welder. “I can seal that breach in no time.”
“We can handle our own problems,” Tamaryst responded, no longer even looking at Tev and instead watching the efforts of his four companions. “The best thing you can do is stay back and let us work.”
Put off by the abrupt dismissal, Tev pressed on. “Now see here, there’s no need to be rude or to panic. There are thirty-six of these storage tanks on the station. Surely the loss of one cannot be cause for such alarm, but if it is, then we can help get it sealed in a matter of moments.”
“Commander,” Pattie said from behind him. “I’m picking up some strange readings from that tank.”
“Not now,” Tev snapped. “Can’t you see I’m trying to foster a little goodwill with our hosts?”
Moving closer, Pattie held her tricorder up for Tev to see. “Commander, the gas coming from that tank is not one of those used to sustain the station’s life support system. It is an inert compound.” Looking up to the Rhaaxan worker, she asked, “What is it supposed to be?”
“It is not your concern, Starfleet,” the Rhaaxan supervisor replied, his expression darkening with each word, and Tev suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Had they blundered into something more serious than a simple storage tank leak?
“Very well,” he said, perhaps too quickly. “We will get out of your way. You’re certainly more qualified to handle this than we are, after all. Let’s leave these gentlemen to work,” he said to the two specialists. As he took a step backward, however, he bumped into something. Much to his regret, it was not just another dirty bulkhead.
“I am afraid it is too late for that,” the second Rhaaxan said from behind him. Tev started to reach for his phaser but the worker was faster, his hand darting out and snatching the weapon from its holster and leveling it at the Tellarite. “All of you stay where you are and keep your hands were we can see them.”
His ire rising as the five Rhaaxans quickly relieved him and the rest of the away team of their phasers, combadges, and other equipment, Tev leveled a scathing glare at the leader of the group. “What is the meaning of this?”
“We cannot allow you to leave now,” Tamaryst said. “You might report what you have seen, and we are not yet ready for anyone to know what we are doing here.”
The twinge of alarm Tev had felt moments before had now formed a knot in his stomach. After all this time and despite the numerous inspections the da Vinci crew had carried out, had the Rhaaxans still succeeded in hiding some kind of weapon, right here under their noses?
“That gas can’t be lethal,” he said. “Specialist Blue scanned it and determined the chemicals in that tank to be harmless.”
Tamaryst nodded. “By itself, that is correct. However, when mixed with another such ‘harmless’ chemical, the result will be a compound that we have named jurolon.”
“A biological agent, I take it,” Tev said.
“That is correct,” Tamaryst said. “It is designed to break down the components of the planet’s atmosphere. It will be quite deadly to anyone living there, but the effects are temporary and after a time the planet will heal itself and be available to us once again.”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Tev said, “You would actually kill everyone in the colony? That is insane.”
“Correct again,” the Rhaaxan leader replied. “Such an action would be insane. It is my home, after all.”
The horrific revelation made Tev’s jaw drop open in shock. “You mean… are you saying that you’re a colonist?” For that to be true, it would mean that insurgents from the colony would have taken control of the orbital platform, which normally operated under the auspices of Rhaax III.
“We have been planning this action for quite a long time, Commander,” Tamaryst said, “ever since the government of our homeworld directed an ultimatum at us. We did not know if they were lying at the time, but we could not afford to take that chance.”
“But they were bluffing,” Tev countered. “There’s no need for you to attack. You’ll be killing millions of innocent people for no reason at all.”
“Do not mistake our intentions,” the Rhaaxan said. “We do not wish to harm anyone, but existing under the constant threat of our homeland is not living. We want our freedom, to decide for ourselves whether we will join your Federation.”
Tev knew that when it came to diplomacy, particularly when it involved the internal machinations of a planet’s own society, he was very much out of his depth. “Listen, telling all of this to me is a waste of time. Let’s take your grievances to Ambassador Marshall on my ship. I’m sure he can—”
“The time for talk is over,” Tamaryst snapped, cutting him off. “We require a decision, today, once and for all.” Indicating his companions, he added, “It is our job to see that the impetus for that decision is provided.”
Frowning, Tev considered his options. He might be able to incapacitate Tamaryst if he moved fast enough, but he would not get much farther before one of the other Rhaaxans gunned him and his team down with their own phasers. Still, he could not stand by idly as these rebels turned this space station into a giant weapon.
An instant later, he learned he was not the only one who felt that way.
From the corner of his eye Tev saw a blur of gray movement a heartbeat before Soloman slammed into the Rhaaxan closest to him. The diminutive Bynar continued moving, snatching the phaser from the worker’s hand even as his opponent crashed backward into the nearby bulkhead.
“Look out!” someone shouted, and Tev ducked to his right as the Rhaaxan behind him opened fire. The howl of phaser energy erupted in the corridor, and Tev spun to face another of the attackers just in time for something to strike him in the face. Stars exploded before his eyes, the pain of the assault so intense that he dropped to his knees. He reached for his nose and forehead with both hands as a wave of dizziness swept over him.
Around him he heard the sounds of scuffling feet and bodies crashing into bulkheads and one another, all of it punctuated by occasional bursts of phaser fire. Through blurred vision he saw Pattie skittering up one wall to latch onto an overhead pipe, kicking out with another of her legs as she fought to stay out of reach. The
n another phaser strike echoed in the hallway and Tev saw Pattie hit by the beam, its orange energy washing over her. Her body went limp as she dropped unconscious to the deck.
At least, Tev hoped she was just unconscious. The phasers had been set on stun, but what if the Rhaaxan had accidentally altered the weapon’s power setting?
“Get the other one!” someone cried, and Tev saw that farther down the corridor, Soloman was ducking behind some kind of maintenance locker and shooting at the Rhaaxans, one of which was firing back in response. The worker wielding the other captured phaser was maneuvering for a shot while his partner kept the Bynar pinned down.
“Soloman!” Tev shouted. “Run!” With that, he heaved himself to his feet and lunged forward, wrapping the Rhaaxan in a fierce bear hug and driving him to the deck with such force that the worker dropped his weapon. The Tellarite pushed himself to his knees, intending to swing at his opponent once more when his vision was abruptly filled with the business end of another phaser.
“Enough,” Tamaryst said, his voice seething with rage. Gesturing for Tev to get to his feet, he looked to one of his companions. “Well?”
The other Rhaaxan shook his head. “The little one disappeared into one of the maintenance conduits.”
“Then go after him,” the leader said, biting off every word.
“You’ll never catch him.” Tev hoped his boast was correct. With his slighter build, Soloman would be much better suited to navigating the crawl spaces. “At least, not before he finds a way to contact our ship.”
“Quiet,” Tamaryst snapped, aiming his phaser at the Tellarite’s head again. To the others he said, “Contact the rest of our group. Get everyone out searching for him, except for those involved in the next phase. We’re starting the process now.”
“Now?” one of the other workers repeated. “But we’re not supposed to start mixing until we get clearance.”