Star Trek - [Mirror Universe 003]

by Shards

  How would I know that you were otherwise occupied if I weren't inside your mind?

  It was a reasonable question and one for which neither of them had an easy answer. Mac looked at Soleta and said reasonably, "Why are you covering up? He's not in the room. He's still floating in the null sphere that powers this vessel, down in engineering, same as always."

  Soleta growled at him. She hated it when he pointed out things that she should have realized. She kept the sheet over herself, probably just to spite him.

  Rolling his eyes and wisely choosing not to pursue the matter, Mac said, "What's the problem, McHenry?"

  He knew that technically, he didn't even have to talk; all he had to do was think his responses. Soleta could converse with McHenry without opening her mouth, but Mac felt the need to speak aloud. It helped him frame his thoughts.

  "All right, McHenry," he said. "You have my attention. What is it?"

  I'm receiving a distress beacon. The source appears to be a single emergency life pod. At full speed, we can be there in ten minutes.

  "Fine," said Mac.

  But Soleta spoke practically right on top of him. "Not fine. Hold on, McHenry. Don't do anything."

  Mac turned to her, puzzled. "Why not?"

  "It could be a trap."

  "What makes you think that?"

  "What makes me...?" She looked at him in disbelief. "Mac, do you have any idea how many problems we've been giving the Alliance? Going from colony world to colony world in the Excalibur, breaking the Alliance's control. Gathering a small army of people into the ship...and by the way, we're starting to reach capacity."

  "I'll be certain to place 'Get us more ships' at the top of my priority list," he said dryly. "Soleta, I don't see the problem. Harassing the Alliance, letting them know that we're not simply going to roll over for them, that's our goal. That's what we want to be doing. To be fighting back, to be a symbol..."

  "I know all that, Mac. What I'm saying is that there is no way that we can embark upon such a course of action and not get the attention of the Alliance."

  "And if we get their attention, what of it?" His face was grim. "If they wish for a fight..."

  "If they wish for a fight, they will do exactly this: try to lure us into some sort of trap. A trap such as someone sending a distress beacon calling for our aid. We've no way of knowing it's legitimate."

  "And we likewise have no way of knowing it isn't."

  She blew air impatiently between her lips. "Do you have any concept of how frustrating you can be at times?"

  "If I did not before, certainly I have you to tell me." Mac was already in the process of pulling on his loose gray trousers. Then he drew back his shoulder-length black hair and tied it to keep it out of his face. "Bring us there, McHenry. And," he said with a deferential nod to Soleta, "be certain to sweep the area carefully before we approach. Make certain that no Alliance forces are anywhere in the vicinity."

  Very well, Mac. Soleta, is that acceptable to you?

  "How kind of you to ask, McHenry. It is nice to know that someone around here values my opinion," she said pointedly.

  There was a pause, and then McHenry said, You two are not going to be having sex anytime soon again, are you?

  "That is none of your business, McHenry," said Soleta at about the same time that Mac said, "Probably not." When Mac of Calhoun said that, Soleta emitted a final, extremely annoyed grunt and headed for the bathroom. The door slid shut behind her.

  I do not understand women.

  "I find it comforting, McHenry, that even you-who can actually go inside women's heads-can still find them incomprehensible."

  You actually don't find that comforting at all.

  "No, I really don't," admitted Mac.

  The vessel dubbed Excalibur had originally been called the Stinger. That was back when it was piloted by Si Cwan of the house of Cwan, a Thallonian prince. But Cwan and his crew had since been thrown out of the ship by the actions of M'k'n'zy of Calhoun, along with his lover, Soleta, and the bio-entity known as McHenry whose endless life force powered the vessel. It had been felt that a new crew required a new name. Robin Lefler, formerly a human slave and now a valued crew member of the ship, had suggested "Excalibur." The name meant nothing to Soleta or Mac. According to Robin, however, it was the name of a famous weapon, a sword, wielded by a mighty ruler. A ruler, she went on to say, who had held great fascination for the late Elizabeth Shelby. The mere mention of Elizabeth's name was typically enough to sadden Mac, for her demise had been abrupt and violent and, he felt, premature, as if she were meant for great things and never had the opportunity to achieve them. Besides, the prospect of naming the ship after a powerful sword was attractive to Mac. Thus did the ship become renamed the Excalibur, and it had been that name that had been stabbing at the perimeter of the Alliance's interests.

  On one of the outlying worlds, they had freed the members of a small colony that had been under the Alliance's yoke. Most of the colonists had chosen to flee, hoping to find a stretch of space that was beyond the Alliance's reach. A few had remained with the Excalibur, however, and one of them was an older, haggard human named Jellico. He was lean and muscular, with thinning blond hair and a beard that had been scraggly when he first came to the ship but which he had since started trimming meticulously, even obsessively. He had a great deal of knowledge about vessels and strategy, and his advice had served Mac well on more than one occasion.

  Jellico now paced the bridge of the Excalibur while Mac sat in his command chair, watching the screen intently. Robin and Soleta were there as well, along with Kalinda, sister of Si Cwan and the only survivor of the previous command crew. Mac had considered tossing Kalinda out the airlock on more than one occasion on principle alone, but Robin had implored him not to, as had McHenry. Kalinda had developed a rapport with McHenry that even Soleta felt transcended whatever bond he had with them. Furthermore, Kalinda and Robin had likewise developed a relationship. Mac had not been sanguine about that, since he still didn't entirely trust Kalinda, but finally he had shrugged it off and decided that one simply could not dictate the directions in which one's heart took one.

  "Soleta's right," Jellico said, leaning in toward Mac.

  "My two favorite words," Soleta said.

  Jellico ignored her. Mac knew it was because he and Soleta did not get on particularly well. He distrusted Romulans, if for no other reason than that they were allies of the Alliance, albeit reluctant ones. But he knew about Mac and Soleta's history and, being a latecomer to the Excalibur, knew that he was in no position to gainsay Mac's faith in her. "It could be a trap."

  "Yes, that's been made abundantly clear. McHenry? Have we got it yet?"

  Coming up on it now, Mac.

  "It's just ahead," said Soleta.

  Jellico looked around and then frowned in frustration. "You know, it's damned inconvenient that you and Soleta and Kalinda can hear him, but I can't. Doesn't it make you nervous that he runs the entire ship?"

  "What do I know about running ships?" Mac said reasonably. "There's nothing I could do in running the controls that McHenry couldn't do better and faster."

  "And do you think I enjoy it, Jellico?" said Soleta. "I repeat what McHenry says for your benefit, mostly to forestall your complaining, and you complain anyway. Do you think it remotely entertaining, having my primary job be to repeat what the ship is saying? Especially when McHenry can tend to go on and on, providing all manner of unasked-for details that I couldn't possibly want or need to know? Do you think that is fun for me? Do you?"

  "Fine, forget I said anything," said Jellico, raising his hands in surrender.

  "I already have."

  "There!" Mac said, pointing at the screen. "There it is."

  A small pod was floating against the darkness of space. A single light was mounted dead center, flickering on and off.

  "Scan it, McHenry," said Soleta. "If we're going to bring it onto the ship, we don't need to have it blow up once it is aboard."


  It is nothing more than what it seems to be, Soleta. Sensors indicate one life-form aboard.

  "What sort of life-form?"

  It appears to be Romulan.

  "A Romulan?"

  Jellico moaned softly. Soleta fired him an annoyed look but said nothing.

  "McHenry, can you beam the occupant directly into the bridge?"

  Yes, Mac.

  "Do it."

  There was a pause, and then the air filled with the familiar shimmering of transporter beams. Seconds later, they coalesced into a female shape. She had been partly curled up and lying on her side in the pod and, as a result, fell over the moment she finished materializing. She lay on the floor for a moment, blinking against the comparatively bright light of the bridge, and then looked around in confusion.

  "Welcome to the Excalibur," said Mac, extending his hand. She took it, looking no less bewildered, as he helped her to her feet. "I'm the captain, M'k'n'zy of Calhoun. Everyone calls me Mac."

  "Hello," she said uncertainly. "I...am Thue."

  "Are you all right?"

  "I am...dehydrated. I could use-" She stopped and arched an eyebrow in surprise when she saw Soleta. "Oh. Is this a Romulan vessel? No...obviously not," she said. "I do not understand. Romulans...humans..."

  "I'm Xenexian, actually. It's a common mistake."

  She inclined her head slightly, acknowledging the error. "But then...with whom are you affiliated?"

  "We're independent operators," said Robin. "We should get you down to the medical bay and-"

  "That can wait," said Jellico sharply. He came around the bridge and faced her, adopting a pose that was both defensive and belligerent. "How did you wind up in the middle of nowhere?"

  "I was dumped here. I was a crewmember aboard a transport ship that was making a cargo run headed for Romulus."

  "What sort of cargo?" said Mac.

  "I do not know. It was loaded on, unlabeled, and there was no record of its specifics in our database."

  "Meaning," said Soleta, "that you checked."

  Thue shrugged. "Even a simple crewmember can be...curious. But I learned nothing definitive."

  "What did you learn?" said Jellico.

  "That it was intended to create some manner of weapon. That much I discerned from overhearing casual conversation by the ship's captain. The late captain," she amended.

  "Why late?"

  "We were attacked by Alliance forces."

  Everyone exchanged looks. The mood on the bridge instantly became charged with tension. "The Alliance?" said Mac.

  She nodded. "They boarded the ship, claiming they were looking for contraband. But the moment they were aboard, they just started shooting everyone. I barely managed to escape."

  "Miraculous," said Soleta, her eyes narrowed, "that they didn't blow your escape pod out of space."

  "Not so miraculous, really. They were interested in what was on the ship. They probably didn't even notice my departure."

  "Possibly."

  Thue stared at her. "Are you insinuating," she said, "that my presence here is suspicious? I am a single, unarmed woman. If you believe I pose a threat to your vessel, feel free to beam me back into my escape pod, and I will take my chances elsewhere."

  "Might I point out," Robin Lefler spoke up, "that while you are all arguing about this, a vessel carrying material that could be transformed into weaponry is currently in the hands of the Alliance and is heading God knows where?"

  The current course of the vessel has it continuing toward Romulus.

  "It's continuing toward Romulus?" said Soleta.

  "How do you-?" began Robin, and then she sighed. "Oh. Right. Of course."

  "Are you certain?" said Mac.

  Absolutely. I can detect its ion trail. The Alliance vessel continued alongside the smaller ship, presumably acting as an escort. The course remains straight and true for Romulus.

  "But none of this makes any sense," said Soleta, slowly pacing the bridge. "Why would the Alliance grab a ship bound for Romulus and then keep heading toward that same destination? What's the point of that?"

  "So they could be in control of it," said Jellico. "Power is all about possession, and the Alliance is all about power."

  "But they're not going to Romulus simply to say, 'Look, we have this,'" said Mac. "It has to be more than that."

  "Maybe there's something going on on Romulus," said Robin. "Maybe..." Her voice trailed off.

  "Maybe what?" said Mac.

  "Maybe, if this thing is part of a weapon, then the weapon is being assembled on Romulus."

  "Meaning," said Jellico, "that the Alliance would want to have control of the last piece of the puzzle. The Romulans are constructing some sort of weapon, and the Alliance doesn't trust them."

  "Imagine that," said Soleta pointedly. "Someone not trusting Romulans. It must give you a great deal of comfort, Jellico, knowing you have something in common with the Alliance."

  Jellico ignored the barb. "If the Alliance is going to this much trouble, then whatever it is, this weapon, it must be fairly significant."

  "I have a question," Kalinda said slowly.

  This prompted a reaction of mild surprise from the others. Kalinda was usually the last person to involve herself in any discussions on the bridge. Typically, she sat quietly and appeared to listen to whatever everyone else had to say. Sometimes she would say something softly to Robin, who might then follow up on it, but that was about it.

  "What do you want to ask, Kalinda?" said Mac.

  "Well..." She shrugged. "How is this any of our business?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean, how is it? Don't you see? The Romulans don't trust the Alliance, and the Alliance doesn't trust the Romulans. From what my brother..." She paused. Mentioning Si Cwan was obviously still a problem for her. She lowered her gaze from Mac's, because she knew she was looking into the face of the man who had ordered her brother's death, and that could not be an easy thing for her to deal with. "From what my brother said," she continued, although not without effort, "the Romulans and the Alliance have an uneasy truce at best. The Romulans avoided being subsumed by the Alliance only by promising to develop weapons technology for them."

  "This could well be it, then," said Mac. "In fact, it probably is."

  "Perhaps. But I very much doubt it's going to be something as simple as that the Romulans produce the weapon for the Alliance, which then takes it, says farewell, and goes on about its business. There may very well be some sort of double-cross in place, on the part of both sides."

  "That would not surprise me," said Soleta. "Praetor Hiren is incredibly paranoid as it is. He may very well be planning to double-cross the Alliance..."

  "Which, of course, the Alliance would know and plan something right back," said Jellico. "So, if we stay the hell out of the way, they could wind up doing serious damage to each other while we sit back and laugh."

  "Let them," said Soleta with decided heat in her voice. "Let them obliterate each other. I would rejoice in seeing the demise of Hiren the Praetor."

  "Then you are a fool," said Thue.

  There was no trace of anger in her voice; she had spoken very matter-of-factly. That did not deter Soleta from rounding on her and saying, "You're rather free with the insults, considering you've been onboard for ten minutes and we just saved your ass from deep space."