Star Trek: Enterprise - 017 - Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic

by Christopher L. Bennett

  May 26 to 27, 2165

  Stone Valley Hold, Vanot

  The strangers had been quick to shoot down Urwen Zeheri’s plan for getting the goods on the homeless abductions. She had been convinced that if she, Ganler, and their mysterious new allies staked out the so-called charity centers the WWA had installed in the outer zones, in time they would witness an abduction and be able to follow the captive back to wherever they were held or experimented on, gathering photographic proof that would convince Rehen and allow her to convince the media and the inquisitors of the crimes WWA and the Hemracine government were committing. But the tall, muscular man called Travis had let her down gently, telling her that the captives weren’t transferred by any method she would be able to track. “What do you mean?” she’d demanded. “Do they suck them underground and use some secret tunnels?”

  “Something like that,” he had replied after the hesitation he showed whenever he chose to hide something from her. She’d wanted to bring all her interrogation skills to bear and break his reserve, but she needed his cooperation and was reluctant to alienate him.

  In time, they devised another stratagem. Though few WWA employees were allowed within the automated factories, Vabion frequently sent in his top engineers and computational encoders, presumably to maintain the equipment. “That’s not likely,” Rey said when she offered that conclusion.

  “That’s right,” Zeheri realized. “You’ve said the equipment isn’t theirs. It’s beyond anything we’ve ever known—are you saying it’s beyond even Vabion’s best people?”

  Rey traded another secretive look with Travis. “Let’s just say I’d be surprised if they knew more about the Ware than we do.”

  Travis leaned forward. “What matters is, they can get past security. How are they cleared?”

  “That’s the tricky part,” Zeheri told him. “They use identification cards that the machinery can recognize somehow. It’s not just the writing or the picture—I’ve seen people arrested trying to get in with forged credentials. There’s something more that the machines are sensing.”

  “Some kind of radio-frequency tag or molecular encoding,” Rey suggested to Travis.

  “Probably. Can you find out if we get close enough to scan one of those cards?”

  “Sure—but we’d need to contact, uh, our friends to do the fabrication. We don’t have the equipment in our . . . vehicle.”

  Zeheri had tolerated their careful avoidance until the next day, when Ganler had come to her in a state of wild excitement. “I followed Rey when he went to pick up the cards. He just went to a spot outside the walls and spoke into that tiny radio of his . . . and then there was a sound like a strange wind and a sparkle of light, and the cards just appeared out of nowhere at his feet!”

  She had striven to calm him, suggesting that perhaps he had seen the light from some kind of underground lift, illuminating dust motes in the air. True, she’d heard rumors from former WWA employees that whatever Ware machinery was hidden behind the fabrication centers’ façades seemed to summon things out of thin air like magic. But she couldn’t be sure how much of that was exaggeration or drink, and even if there were truth to it, it required large mechanisms. She could, at this point, allow herself to believe that Underlanders were assisting her new friends, but believing they had the power to create matter out of nothing was just too much.

  Still, it was enough to crystallize certain doubts she’d been having, doubts that forced her to confront Travis that night. She took him into her guest room, closed the door, and spoke. “I accept that you have secrets to keep. I’ve tried not to push you. But if we’re going into danger together, I need to know I can trust you implicitly. I need to know you aren’t hiding anything that could hurt me or Ganler if we follow where you lead.”

  Travis reacted uneasily at the latter name. “I’d feel a lot better if we left Ganler behind.”

  “What have you got against his youth? He’s bright, he’s quick, he’s responsible.”

  “I’ve got nothing against him. I just don’t want him hurt any more than you do. Where I . . . come from, we wouldn’t let someone so young go into danger.”

  “Life is danger, Travis. Children can fall down the stairs or drown in the bath or poison themselves with the wrong pills. Teaching them how to cope with danger, to develop judgment and skill, makes them safer.”

  “Not this kind of danger, Urwen. None of us will be safe. What could happen to us if our security passes don’t work . . .” His eyes were haunted. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I wouldn’t face it myself in a million years if there were any other choice.”

  She placed a hand on the side of his face. “Then tell us, so we can face that danger with our eyes open. Trust us, so that we know we can trust you.”

  He took her hand and lowered it to clasp it in both of his. “I want to. Believe me, Urwen, I hate keeping secrets from you. But I promise you, we haven’t lied to you about anything. And we haven’t kept anything from you that could hurt you. If we’ve kept secrets, they’re only ones that might hurt you—or your people—if you did know them.”

  “I don’t understand that.”

  “I’m not sure I do either.” He sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know what I should or shouldn’t tell you. You think we’re so advanced, but the truth is, we’re still pretty new at all this. There’s a lot we don’t have rules for yet. And I’ve seen that lead to some pretty bad mistakes. I’m just trying to protect you.”

  It was the first time she’d seen such vulnerability and doubt in him. But it didn’t burst her illusions, didn’t destroy the romance of this exotic, strong, mysterious stranger with superior wisdom. It only made him more real to her, more accessible. She pulled him closer. “You can protect me best by letting me take care of myself, Travis. I’m not a child—or even an apprentice.”

  He looked her over. “No . . . you’re definitely not a child.”

  She underlined her point by kissing him. After that, they rather swiftly lost the thread of the discussion.

  15

  May 27, 2165

  Irinthar Mountains, Vulcan

  AS A MOSTLY PEACEFUL SOCIETY, the Vulcans had little need for security cameras in their cities. But the keen memories of the Vulcan citizens were the next best thing. Generally, Vulcans respected one another’s privacy, but when the officers of the ShiKahr reasoning force (as the local police were charmingly known on Vulcan) showed its citizens the image of the former museum assistant calling herself T’Salan and explained the importance of tracking her whereabouts, most citizens were willing to search their memories for matching faces. A few even acknowledged an acquaintance with her, though could reveal little about her as a person; to a one, they reported that she had been reticent about herself even by Vulcan standards.

  Still, Director Surel was able to track T’Salan’s movements to the safe house she had used to prepare for the Kir’Shara’s theft. She had left little evidence behind, but, as she had not expected the safe house to be discovered, she had overlooked enough of a DNA trace to allow Surel to discover T’Salan’s true identity, a former High Command administrative aide named L’Resen, who had worked under the supervisor of Commander Zadok’s fleet. Further tracking of L’Resen’s movements revealed that she had left ShiKahr for Kel Province in the far north of Vulcan, but had disappeared shortly after her arrival there. However, the Kel reasoning force was able to determine that she had gone to a recreational goods fabrication facility and ordered gear for mountain climbing and survival in what passed for cold weather by Vulcan standards. This had suggested that her goal was in the Irinthar Mountains, the northernmost range on the planet. Surel’s search of declassified High Command records had turned up a reference to a secret military supply depot in those mountains—overseen by a division to which Zadok had once belonged.

  Thus it was that Takashi Kimura and an Endeavour security team, along with a gov
ernment security squad led by Surel, were now perched on the slope just above the depot, a bunker well camouflaged in a notch in the low, scrub-covered mountain. The all-human team was weathering the polar conditions much better than Surel’s squad; to Kimura, the chill here was no worse than on an autumn morning in Hokkaido.

  Still, other aspects of the setup made him uneasy. “Are you sure you don’t want to bring in a larger team?” Kimura asked Surel.

  “Based on our tracking of Zadok’s associates, this team should be adequate to confront the maximum number of partisans likely to be within the bunker,” Surel replied. “After all, we do not wish to provoke a violent reaction if it can be avoided.”

  “All due respect, Surel, but we’re talking about a man who’s been actively advocating violence.”

  “As a logically, if ruthlessly, applied tool. If possible, we must persuade him that his most logical option is surrender. I shall request a parley.”

  Kimura stared at the young security officer. “You think you can talk these fanatics out of their convictions?”

  “No. But I can demonstrate that they are tactically outmatched and persuade them of the futility of forcible resistance.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?”

  Surel quirked his brows in what Kimura, after years of serving under Captain T’Pol, had come to recognize as the Vulcan equivalent of a smile. “Do you recall our game of chess, Takashi?”

  Kimura remembered. On the flight up to the polar regions, Kimura had accepted Surel’s challenge to play a game of chess entirely in their minds, keeping mental track of the pieces on an imaginary board. After only a few moves, Surel had declared that Kimura would be mated within another ten, then proceeded to explain exactly how his defeat would occur. When Kimura had protested that he’d been hoping for a longer game, Surel apologized, saying that this was a fairly typical way for Vulcans to play chess among themselves. Once they had modeled the entire game to a decisive outcome, where was the point in acting it out step by step? “Once a conflict is resolved in the mind,” Surel reminded him now, “the actual action is secondary.”

  Kimura smiled back. “Remind me to talk to you about a man named Sun Tzu,” he replied. “Still—I’m coming with you to this parley.”

  The director pondered. “It is expected that the parleyers will have armed backup as a deterrent. But why do you feel it necessary to come yourself?”

  “Because the difference between chess and real life is that it’s hard to cheat at chess.”

  Surel brandished his comm device and transmitted a message toward the bunker. “Attention within. This is Vulcan Planetary Security. As you can no doubt detect, we have your facility surrounded. You have no option for withdrawal. I invite your representative to attend a parley so we may determine a logical resolution to this confrontation.”

  After a few moments, a reply came over Surel’s device. “Parley is accepted, per the standard forms.”

  Surel signaled two of his officers, Tozek and T’Syra, to back him up. Kimura did the same with Crewmen Money and Alonzo. The four men and two women descended the slope toward the bunker entrance, weapons at ready, while their respective teams covered them from the crest. As they neared the bunker, its heavy door opened to admit four Vulcans while another two flanked the entrance. Kimura recognized the male as Commander Zadok, and was fairly certain the female was L’Resen. Logical, he thought. They don’t want to show us too many faces we don’t already know.

  Surel’s gaze went to L’Resen as well, then back toward her superior. “Commander Zadok,” he said. “You have chosen wisely if your intent is to turn over L’Resen, alias T’Salan, for arrest. She is wanted in connection with the theft and forgery of the Kir’Shara.”

  “You have no proof any such crime has occurred,” Zadok countered.

  “Proof is for the courts to determine, Commander. We do, however, have compelling evidence that L’Resen obtained employment with the Science Academy Museum under forged credentials, and that she operated an equipment cart employing holographic camouflage technology of suspected Romulan origin.”

  “You cannot prove,” L’Resen said, “that I had any knowledge of the cart’s modifications.”

  “You could not have overlooked its increased weight, ma’am. In any case, this is not the appropriate forum for this debate. If you accompany us back to the capital, you will of course be granted legal representation and the opportunity to present a defense.”

  “We do not recognize your authority,” Zadok told him.

  “I am the duly authorized representative of the Vulcan High Council, Commander.”

  “You are an agent of the Syrannite puppet government, a regime put in place through an armed coup on behalf of the Earth Starfleet. Even now, you can do nothing without Starfleet at your side, directing your actions.” His gaze shifted to Kimura. “What authorization do you have to intervene in a domestic matter between Vulcans? Your very presence here is illegal.”

  Kimura made no effort to respond; this was Surel’s operation, after all. “This is a military facility,” the Council security officer replied, “occupied by individuals who have advocated armed insurrection. If you truly wish to advocate the rule of civil law, then your logical option is to accompany my forces peaceably and allow the legal system to do its work. It is contradictory to condemn military intrusion into civil affairs while mounting an armed resistance to civil authority.”

  “It is not contradictory for Vulcans to reject the interference of offworlders in their affairs. Let this dispute be between Vulcans; otherwise, you merely prove you are the pawn of these aliens.”

  Kimura grew increasingly uneasy as the debate went on in circles. Zadok’s stalling, he realized. But for what? Directing Sascha Money to take his place flanking Surel, Kimura stepped back a few paces and flipped open his communicator. “Kimura to Endeavour.”

  “Endeavour. T’Pol here.”

  “Captain, do you detect any unusual activity at our location? I think Zadok is trying to distract us from something.”

  “Stand by.”

  A few moments later, Elizabeth Cutler’s voice came over the channel. “You were right, Takashi. I had to widen the scan, but I’m picking up transporter activity from the other side of the mountain.”

  “Are they beaming more troops in?”

  “No, something is beaming out.”

  “I don’t get it. The bunker doesn’t go all the way through the mountain. And it’s too deep to beam out from.”

  “They may have a transporter wave guide running to the surface as an emergency egress,” T’Pol advised.

  Kimura had heard enough. “Surel!” he called. “They’re beaming out! This is a decoy!”

  But Zadok, L’Resen, and the other loyalists were already raising their weapons. Money and Alonzo were quick to open fire, and Tozek and T’Syra flanked Surel as he retreated. The rest of the combined team was storming down from the crest within moments. The loyalists carried on their cover fire as they fell back into the bunker.

  “We must reach the entrance before they seal it!” Surel called. The team continued to return fire. Zadok and L’Resen vanished inside the bunker, and Kimura spotted one of his guards reaching for what was most likely a door control. Kimura drew a bead on him with his particle rifle’s sights and dropped him unconscious to the floor.

  Within moments, the team was in the entryway. “Too easy,” Kimura said. “This may be a trap.”

  “A logical assessment,” Surel replied. “But we must secure what evidence we can to prove the theft occurred. And we must preempt any efforts to destroy such evidence.”

  “Agreed. Just be careful.”

  “There is a time for care and a time for risk, Takashi. We must hurry!” Determined, the young security chief led his team into the bunker. It seemed reckless to Kimura, but then he realized what Surel had probably already
deduced: Given the estimated size of Zadok’s group and the amount of time they had been stalling, it was likely that only a skeleton force remained to destroy the evidence and guard their retreat. Thus, the risk of haste was warranted in order to preserve whatever evidence might remain. So Kimura wasted no more time in ordering his own team to back up the Vulcan force. He advanced into the bunker with Money and Alonzo at his flanks, with Ensign Bragen and Crewmen Valmar and Janley following behind.

  Surel’s team moved briskly ahead of them, clearing the first few rooms they checked, and at first it looked like smooth sailing. They split in two directions at a fork, and Kimura sent Bragen, Money, and Janley to back up T’Syra’s quintet while he, Benedetta Alonzo, and Bayani Valmar stuck with Surel, Tozek, and the remaining three Vulcans.

  Once they were some distance away from the other half of the team, Surel raised a hand to order stillness, then listened. “I hear a transporter in use,” he reported. “Mister Kimura, we will go ahead and attempt to halt their escape. Take your team to search for evidence.”

  Kimura didn’t like splitting up further, but it was necessary and efficient. His team began a room-by-room search with scanners in one hand, particle rifles in the other.

  In the third room they checked, they detected two biosigns. He and Alonzo flanked the door while Valmar, their resident countermeasures expert, hacked the door panel and overrode the lock. The tall Filipino ducked aside just as the door slid open, and a bolt of phased energy barely missed his shoulder. Alonzo tossed a stun grenade through the open door, and she, Kimura, and Valmar burst into the room. The two loyalists inside were dazed but still conscious, a testament to Vulcan resiliency. Kimura brought his rifle to bear and relieved the nearer target of consciousness while Alonzo did the same with the other—whom Kimura realized was L’Resen. The small, vivacious Italian stood guard at the door while Kimura and Valmar moved into the room to study the tables of equipment within.

  “I think we’ve hit paydirt, sir,” Valmar said after scanning the equipment. “These look like antique tools for metalworking and etching . . . This chamber here could be used to artificially age the metal.”