by Dave Stern
“Confirm that, sir,” Duel said quietly. “The Guild/DEF fleet is moving apart.”
“You should move your ship as well, Commander Tucker. This many vessels, bunched so closely together—we have most certainly drawn the notice of General Elson’s fleet.”
“Thanks for the advice. We’ll take it under consideration,” Trip said.
“I suggest you do. Now if there’s nothing else…”
“There is, actually. Leeman Sadir—the general wanted to talk to him. You can tell him the boy should be waking soon.”
“I’m sure he’ll be interested to hear it. Hule out.”
And before Trip could say another word, the viewscreen went dark.
“Huh,” he said, sitting back down in the command chair.
He didn’t know what to make of that—Briatt cutting him off so quickly. On the one hand, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Like he’d told the captain, Makandros wasn’t going to sit around forever. The general had told them before that he had plans of his own to make, and Trip supposed he’d done just that. Even so, not to be interested in talking to the boy at all? That was a little extreme. There had to be something else going on.
He wondered if he could find out what that something else was.
“Carstairs,” he said, turning to Hoshi’s replacement at the com. “See if you can get me Marshal Kairn, aboard the Eclipse.”
The young man nodded and bent to his station.
Trip, meanwhile, opened a channel of his own.
Twenty-Five
ARCHER FROWNED.
“Get Briatt back on the com. I want to talk to her.”
“Hule’s moved out of range, Captain. In fact, except for a few transports and one of the Guild ships that’s under repair, we’re the only vessel left here.”
Archer frowned. He couldn’t believe Makandros had all at once given up on talking to the boy. Trip was right. Something else was going on.
“Keep trying to contact them—Kairn and the general,” he said. “Let me know the second you do. And let’s take Briatt’s advice. Move us well away from the rendezvous point. Out of the Belt entirely, in fact.”
“Yes, sir,” Trip replied over the com. “Captain—”
“Yes?”
“Not to be a pest, sir, but it has been two hours. That’s how long you wanted to let the boy sleep before—”
“I’m standing in front of his cabin right now.”
“Ah.”
“Apology accepted.” Archer smiled. “I’ll keep you posted, Trip. Out.”
The captain stepped back from the com panel. He nodded to Yamani, on guard duty, who then unlocked the door for him.
Archer entered the dimly lit cabin. Rather than switching on the light, he let his eyes adjust to the semidarkness.
The first thing he saw was the bed, and Porthos sprawled out across it, right where Archer had left him. Sound asleep.
Not Leeman Sadir.
The boy stood at the far end of the cabin, staring out the room’s sole window port. He turned and offered Archer a half smile.
The captain returned it.
“Still having trouble sleeping?”
“I woke up right after you left. Couldn’t fall back asleep. Unlike him,” Lee said, nodding toward Porthos, who suddenly sat up in bed and barked once.
Archer smiled. “An ion storm couldn’t disturb his beauty sleep.”
“I’d like to change places.”
“You’ve got a lot more to think about than he does.”
“Yes,” Lee said. “That’s true.”
The boy seemed about to continue, but instead turned back toward the window, his gaze fixed on the stars outside.
“You hungry? Thirsty?” The captain nodded toward the refrigerator in the corner. “I don’t know if they told you, but there’s food in there for you.”
Lee shook his head. “No, thanks.”
Okay, the captain thought. So much for small talk.
“There’ve been some developments,” he said, and then told Lee about General Elson’s proclamation, his decision to convene the Council and, in effect, ask them to make him absolute ruler of Denari. He watched the boy as he spoke, waiting for some reaction. But Lee’s face remained impassive.
“I know you’re still taking it all in, Lee. And I meant what I said before about not forcing you to do anything you don’t want to. But this puts us under the gun now. If you want to present a united front—”
“I’ll do it,” the boy blurted out. “I’ll talk to Makandros and the Guild.”
“Good.” Archer nodded. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Which he was, except that he couldn’t help thoughts of the scanner Ferik had in his possession, the information on it, and what it could mean for the boy’s future from intruding just then. There was indeed a part of him that wanted to tell the boy everything.
Archer set it aside, and smiled.
“Now all we have to do is find them,” the captain said, explaining the fleet’s break-up. “But we should get you up to the bridge, so that—”
“There’s something else,” the boy said, all in rush. “Someone else, actually, that I need to talk to.”
The captain, who’d already taken a step toward the cabin door, stopped in his tracks.
He didn’t like the slightly hesitant, slightly defiant tone that had crept into the boy’s voice just then.
“Oh?”
“Yes,” Lee said. “General Elson.”
Archer sighed.
“Lee—”
“We only have other people’s word for what he’s done, Captain. No proof.”
Archer shook his head. “I saw Makandros’s fleet. The ships that Elson’s forces ambushed.”
“It could have been the other way around. You weren’t there. Who’s to say how it really happened?”
“There’s more than that, Lee,” Archer said gently, resisting the urge to tell the boy not to ignore the obvious. “Colonel Peranda was his man.”
“I know that,” the boy said quietly.
“Peranda is responsible for your mother’s death. For almost killing you.”
“No.” The boy shook his head. “I don’t believe General Elson would have ordered those things.”
“I know you were close to him, Lee, but—”
“Captain.”
The boy turned to face him directly for the first time.
The circles underneath his eyes, Archer saw, were even bigger and darker than before.
“All I want to do is talk to him. My father always said if you were going to judge a man, you had to be willing to look into his eyes. Hear his side of the story.”
The captain couldn’t help the look of exasperation that crossed his face then. “Lee,” he began. “You—”
“Captain, if I’m going to turn against the general, I need to make sure that it’s the right decision. You can understand that, can’t you?”
Archer sighed again. What he understood was that there was going to be no talking the boy out of this.
“All right. Let’s get up to the bridge then, so you can have that conversation.”
In the turbolift, Archer tried to talk strategy with the boy. The captain stressed that whatever explanations Elson had for his actions, it was important for Lee not to take them at face value. That he had to probe the general not just for words, but reactions. See what Elson thought about Lee’s taking his father’s seat on the Council, what the idea of a meeting between the boy, General Makandros, and the Guild provoked. By the time the lift doors opened, the captain was beginning to think that Lee’s conversation with Elson was, in fact, a good idea, if for no other reason than that it might reveal the general’s thinking to him.
Trip, however, didn’t share that belief.
When Archer told him what Lee wanted to do, his chief engineer all but exploded. The captain had to take him by the arm and drag him off to his ready room, leaving Lee in the custody of Ensign Yamani, who’d accompanied them to the bri
dge from his quarters.
“Commander,” Archer said as the ready room door closed behind them. “You need to calm down.”
“Calm down? Captain, did I miss something here?” His chief engineer shook his head. “Everybody forget about those nuclear bombs already? The attack on Makandros’s fleet? What happened right here, on Enterprise? You remind the kid that his mother’s dead because of Elson? Peranda was taking orders from him, if you remember.”
“I told him,” Archer said. “All that and more. This is something he needs to do.”
“And we’re going to let him?”
“If we want his cooperation, we don’t have any choice. Relax, Trip.”
His chief engineer took a deep breath. Archer gave him another few seconds to get fully under control before speaking again.
“Talk doesn’t cost us anything right now. Especially since we haven’t heard anything from Kairn or Makandros. At least, I assume that’s the case.”
“It is.” Trip nodded. “We think they must have moved deep inside the Belt, that they’re setting up defensive positions there. Carstairs is working on boosting our signal so we can reach them.”
“Look at it this way. This’ll give him time to do that.”
Trip frowned.
“I still don’t like it, Captain.”
“I don’t like it much either. But we’re trying to stop a war here. Whatever we have to do to make that happen…”
“Yes, sir.” Trip shook his head. “I’d still rather he talked to Kairn and Makandros first. You know the first thing Elson’s going to do is try and poison the kid’s mind about them.”
“I know. Which is why you’re going to be in on that conversation too. Making sure Lee gets both sides of the story.”
“I’ll do my best.”
The com sounded.
“Bridge to Captain Archer.”
“Go ahead.”
“I have the Kresh, sir.”
“Thank you. Commander Tucker will be right there.”
Archer closed the channel and turned to Trip.
“Show time.”
“Just stand here,” Trip said to the boy, placing Lee directly in front of the command chair. “Look at that screen, and speak right at him. That’s all. He’ll see you.”
“I don’t understand.” Lee looked around him to the ready room door. “Where’s Captain Archer?”
“Something came up,” Trip lied. “Don’t worry. He’ll be out as soon as he can. Now you remember what the two of you talked about?”
“I remember.”
“Just don’t let him avoid your questions. Make sure—”
“I remember,” the boy said, more sharply.
Trip threw up his hands. “Okay. I hear you.”
He stepped back and nodded to Carstairs. The ensign keyed in a series of commands at his console, and the viewscreen came to life.
General Elson—looking exactly as he had two hours ago when they’d heard him issue his proclamation to convene the Council, not a hair out of place, not a sign of stress or doubt on his features—glanced up at the screen and smiled.
“Lee. You’re all right. Thank God.”
The boy cleared his throat.
“Yes, sir. I’m fine,” he said.
“After we lost contact with the ship, I was worried.”
Elson had shifted locations within the Kresh, Trip saw. He was in a different place than he’d broadcast from earlier. Behind the general now, Trip caught glimpses of a huge, high-ceilinged room, and dozens of people milling around. More than dozens, in fact. Hundreds. A lot of them soldiers, who, judging from their posture and the way people who came near them reacted, were there on duty. Elson’s soldiers, no doubt. He could guess the reason for their presence as well.
They were there to make sure the coming Council meeting went exactly as the general intended it to.
“Who are you?”
Trip looked up to find Elson’s gaze had shifted to him.
“Commander Charles Tucker, temporarily in command of the Starship Enterprise.”
“One of the Starfleet officers. Lee is your prisoner then, I take it?”
“He’s our passenger. Our guest.”
Elson’s gaze shifted back to the boy.
“He’s right, General. I’m fine. These people are my friends.”
Elson nodded thoughtfully.
“You’re very understanding, Commander. After what was done to your ship and crew—”
“Which you had nothing to do with.”
The general’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s right. I had nothing to do with it. The attack on your ship was led by General Makandros. I was in charge of arranging your vessel’s transfer to Kota, but other than that…”
The general smiled disingenuously, first at Trip, and then at Lee. Playing to his audience for all he was worth.
Trip had to give it to him. The man was smooth.
“We need to talk, Lee,” Elson said. “A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours. I need to bring you and Captain Duvall up to speed.” The general’s eyes scanned the bridge behind the boy, and he frowned. “Where is she, Lee? Where’s your mother?”
The boy blinked and shuffled unsteadily on his feet.
“She’s…” he began, and cleared his throat. “She’s not…”
“Captain Duvall is dead,” Trip said, stepping forward, giving the kid a moment to compose himself. “An explosion, aboard Enterprise.”
Elson’s reaction was immediate, and just as theatrical as Trip would have expected.
The man closed his eyes tightly and shook his head slowly back and forth.
“Oh no. God, no.”
“There was a bomb,” Trip went on. “A booby trap, apparently set by an officer under your direct command. A Colonel—”
“Peranda,” Elson snapped. “That idiot. Where is he now?”
“In custody.”
“I want him.” The general’s eyes darted to the boy and stayed there. “His orders were to transport you and your mother safely to the Kresh. That’s all. He won’t get away with this, Lee. I promise you.”
The boy nodded.
“Commander,” Elson continued, talking to Trip now but still looking at Lee. “I’d like to make arrangements to have the colonel transferred to our control, whenever is convenient.”
“You’ll have to talk to General Makandros about that,” Trip said. “Peranda and his men are with him now.”
Elson’s expression froze.
He turned back to Trip.
“Is that so? Makandros? After what he did to your crew, you’re on speaking terms?”
“That’s right,” Trip said. “We’re on speaking terms.”
He left it to the general to imagine what exactly they were speaking about.
Elson nodded thoughtfully.
“You should be aware he is an insurrectionist. Fomenting trouble within the border settlements, collaborating with sworn enemies of the Denari people—”
“Is that why you attacked his fleet earlier?”
Trip had hoped to provoke more of a reaction with that question, but Elson must have seen it coming. The general only set his jaw and nodded again.
“Precisely. I also have proof he’s been collaborating with the Guild, our government’s sworn enemy. That he may have helped them mount terrorist attacks right here on the planet’s surface.”
“You’re talking about Charest?”
Elson smiled thinly. “You’re very well informed about what’s been happening on our world, Commander Tucker.”
“We’re on speaking terms with the Guild too,” Trip said. “They tell a different version of that story.”
“I imagine they do.” Elson’s words were for Trip, but his gaze remained focused on the boy. “I assume you’ve heard these stories as well, Lee.”
“Yes, sir,” the boy said. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what to think.”
“The investigation of the incident
at Charest is ongoing,” Elson said. “Perhaps you would like to talk to the man in charge. One moment.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned to one side and said something the com couldn’t pick up.
Elson’s image disappeared and was immediately replaced by a head-and-shoulders view of another man. A man with darker skin than Trip had seen on any Denari previously, his head completely shaved, wearing a uniform exactly like the general’s.
Seeing the man, Lee, for the first time since Trip had met him, broke out into a big smile.
“Maj,” he said, taking an unconscious step toward the screen before he got control of himself. “It’s…it’s good to see you.”
“And you, young one.” The man had one of the deepest voices Trip had ever heard. “I’m so sorry about your mother. You’re all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“These Starfleet officers are not mistreating you? Because if they are…” The man’s gaze shifted and locked on Trip.
The two stared at each other a second.
Hard to tell over a com link, of course, but the concern Trip saw in this man’s eyes seemed fairly genuine.
“I told you, I’m all right,” Lee said. “I’m more anxious to find out what’s been going on down there. Charest. The general says—”
“It was an attack,” the man said, his face suddenly grave. “We have evidence the Guild was involved.”
“What sort of evidence?” Trip interjected.
“I will be happy to share it with you when you arrive, Lee,” the man said. “How far off are you?”
The boy’s eyes darted to Trip.
“I—I’m not sure,” Lee managed.
“You are coming to the Council meeting, are you not?” the man asked. “General Elson needs your support.”
Before Trip or the boy could respond, the man’s image disappeared, and Elson’s face filled the screen again.
“I should have mentioned that earlier, Lee. I have convened the Council. We need to present a united front against the threat the Guild represents.”
“Yes, sir. I…I was aware of the meeting.”
“I see. And were you planning on attending? Taking your father’s seat?”
“I…” The boy hesitated, looking all at once entirely lost, and far, far too young to be involved in the conversation.