by Andy Mangels
“Uh-oh, the captain said.
FORTY-TWO
Tuesday, July 22, 2155 EnterpriseNX-01, near the Gamma Hydra sector
S EATED AT THE DESKin his ready room, Jonathan Archer listened to the joint report from TPol and Reed in almost meditative silence. TPol wrapped up the brief presentation with a solemn dignity that Archer usually associated with eulogies.
“By now, she said, “Trip has already reached Romulus.
Where hes probably already had to face whatever rough justice Admiral Valdore had in store for him,Archer thought. Though he respected Trips abilities both as an engineer and as a highly survival-adept Starfleet officer, he hadnt been an intel operative all that long, and Archer knew that Valdore was no fool either.
He despaired of seeing his friend ever again.
“Unfortunately, our encounter with Trip didnt change the Coalitions current tactical situation in any way that really matters, Reed said, looking nearly as mournful as Archer felt. “He still has to get his hands on workable warp-seven engine plans, though this may be simply because the Romulans themselves have yet to come up with a completely workable design. And his Romulan intelligence sources had him convinced that the Klingonswere the ones behind the attacks against Draylax and our shipping lanes, rather than any Romulan culprits.
Archer nodded, becoming all but resigned to the bleak prospect of a hot war with the Klingons; it was beginning to look inevitable, despite the evidence Archer had found exculpating the Klingon Empire, which had no present hostile intentions toward any member of the Coalition of Worlds.
But we just might kick over the anthill anyway,he thought. And touch off a conflict that will cripple most of two quadrants for decades, and probably kill millions of innocents on both sides. The Klingonswill consider us shoot-on-sight enemies then, sure as gravity. And the Romulans will sit back and laugh through the entire bloodbath, waiting until both sides are too weak to stop them from swooping in to pick up the pieces.
The intercom on Archers desk whistled, presenting a welcome interruption to the captains gloomy ruminations. Toggling the channel open, he said, “Archer here. Go ahead.
“Were receiving a priority communication from Starfleet, Captain,said Hoshi, a note of urgency audible in her voice. “Its Admiral Gardner.
“Thanks, Hoshi. Pipe it straight to my ready room, please.
Archer wasted no time activating the blank monitor atop his desk, which quickly shifted to the weary but hyperalert visage of Sam Gardner. TPol and Reed immediately began moving toward the ready room door to give Archer some privacy, but stopped after he motioned them to stay and positioned his monitor so that its visual sensor pickups showed the admiral everyone present in the room. The motion forced him to suppress a wince of pain, a reminder of his ordeal on QonoS.
The silver-haired admiral noted the presence of Archers subordinates with a nod, and then focused solely on the captain. “Archer, youstill look like hell,Gardner said with a sympathetic nod before abruptly switching into his “all-business mode. “Captain, the Coalition Security Council has been busy evaluating the evidence you brought back from QonoS. From where Im sitting, it appears to have changed everything.
Archer forced himself to absorb this apparent good news with at least some degree of caution. “I hope thats a change for the better, Admiral, he said.
Gardner nodded again. “It is. Because the Klingons have made no aggressive moves against us since you delivered their ultimatum, the Coalition Security Council has tabled all plans to adopt an aggressive defensive posture against the Klingon Empire. Even the hotheads on Andoria have agreed to hold their horses a while longerunless they believe the Klingons to be acting in direct defiance of the ultimatum.A small, relieved smile somehow slipped out onto the admirals otherwise granite-hard countenance, reminding Archer that few people are more reticent about wars than the hardened warriors charged with fighting them. “Well done, Captain.
“Thank you, sir, Archer said. “Lets hope we can keep the proverbial dogs on their leashes this time.
Gardners smile abruptly vanished. “We still may not have that luxury. Starfleet Command has just received word that Centauri III and the Calder II science outpost have come under attack.
“Do you believe the Klingons to be responsible for either of those attacks, Admiral? TPol asked.
Training his suddenly narrowed eyes squarely upon TPol, the admiral said, “Not as far aswe can determine, Commander.
Thank God, Archer thought, though he remained uneasy. So long as the Coalition Council remained balanced on the razors edge of a declaration of war against the Klingon Empire, whose ships had already been proven to be vulnerable to hijacking by a hostile third party, he was certain he was going to continue feeling that way. He could only hope that the evidence that he and Phlox had found on QonoS would prevent the Councils more hawkish members from going off halfcocked should the Klingons appear to have defied the Coalitions ultimatum.
“The Romulans must be responsible, sir, Malcolm said. “Its got to be the Romulans.
Breaking eye contact with TPol, Gardner shook his head. “Weve found no definitive evidence of that either, Lieutenant.
“Then who isresponsible? Archer wanted to know.
“Brief transmissions fromColumbia and from personnel at Calder II have tentatively identified the aggressors in both attacks asVulcan military vessels. The hostiles appear to have jammed outgoing communications in both locations before we could learn any additional details. Starfleet Command is trying to keep this information under wraps, of course, for obvious reasons.
“But Command had to inform the United Earth Council.
“And they jumped to the conclusion that this was true? Archer asked. “Theyve seen the Klingon recordings. How could they consider blaming Vulcan?
“ Captain, I dont need to remind you that many people have problems with the Vulcans. They have never understood why they held humanity back, insisting that humans were not ready to move into deep space.
Archer was having trouble accepting any of this. “The problems Ive had with the Vulcans over the years have never been a secret, Admiral. But I cant believe that Vulcan would ever
“No, neither do I. But I answer to Earths government, as do you, Captain. However, it has been suggested that Commander TPol be relieved and confined.
TPols only response was to lift a single eyebrow in an evident gesture of defiance. Reed looked on in openly astonished silence.
“With all due respect, sir, Ill be damned if Im throwing my exec into the brig.
Gardner held up a hand to forestall any further argument. “ I said it was suggested. While the Council believes their eyes, Starfleet believes there is a more devious force behind this. Youre not the only one fostering a new alliance; Starfleet shared all of this data with the Vulcans.
“Romulans, Archer offered. Finally someone at Command was listening. “The Romulans may have just found a way to defeat us without firing a shot. All they need to do is drive wedges of suspicion betweenmembers of the Coalition. And the best way to start is to convince one Coalition world that another member has turned against it.
“Admiral. Please dont tell me that Starfleet has gone so far as to place Soval and his aides under arrest.
“Captain,Gardner said in scolding tones. “Starfleet Command and the United Earth government dont want this Coalition to come apart any more than you do. But Starfleet willhave to enforce Earths decisions once theyre made
“Fair enough, Admiral.
“Lets both hope that Earth understands that whatevers happening at Alpha Centauri and Calder is probably analogous to what those rogue Klingon ships did at Draylax.
Archer nodded. “ Enterpriseis a lot closer to the Calder system than Alpha Centauri. At maximum warp we can reach Calder II in
Gardner interrupted him again. “No. The Calder II outpost is small and almost entirely defenseless. There probably wont be anything left of it by the time you arrive.
Archer gla
nced at Reed, whose rueful nod tacitly endorsed the admirals coldly factual tactical assessment.
“Understood, Archer said, facing his terminal again. “Well head straight to Alpha Centauri then, and do whatever we can to reinforce Centauri IIIs defenses.
“Negative,said the admiral. “Columbia is on her way, since shes already in the Alpha Centauri sector.
Archer couldnt believe Gardner wanted Columbiato face the threat alone. “Captain Hernandez deserves to have Enterpriseat her back, he said. “Even if we have to get to the party a little bit late.
Looking a little regretful, the admiral shook his head again. “ No. Im afraid another problem has come up. Abackchannel joint operation that Command has been involved with. AndEnterprise is the only vessel currently in position to deal with it in time.
Archer closed his eyes for a moment and stroked his forehead, behind which a knot of intense painan agony utterly unrelated to the aftermath of his combat on QonoShad begun to form. “Admiral, what could be a higher priority for Enterprisethan whats happening right now at Alpha Centauri and Calder?
Archer was glad he was already sitting down when he heard the admirals answer: “A fuel carrier called theKobayashi Maru.
FORTY-THREE
Tuesday, July 22, 2155 S.S. Kobayashi Maru,Gamma Hydra sector
J ACQUELINE S EARLES TRIEDnot to think about how much freefall always made her want to puke.
The Marus bridge was as dark as a proverbial tomb until the dim, red emergency lighting reluctantly flared to life. Searles breathed a silent prayer of thanks that the fuel carriers perpetually expense-averse skipper had finally heeded her repeated requests that he bankroll the upgraded backup redundancies shed installed late last year.
Too bad he was willing to settle for the cheapo brand-X artificial gravity plating, though,she thought as her stomach lurched. Her gorge rose to a higher orbit as Simonson drifted into view; the young pilots neck was bent into an unnatural shape that vaguely resembled a question mark. She didnt want to think about how many others aboard the Marumight have shared Simonsons fate. Moving with cautious deliberation, she secured the dead man to one of the chairs at an unoccupied duty station and somehow resisted the urge to become violently ill.
I must be in shock. Moving on autopilot.
“What the hell did we hit? Vance said as he launched his weightless form from console to console with surprising grace.
Employing considerably less grace, Stiles clung to one of the ops consoles as though his very life depended on it. He pounded on its side, bringing it back to a blinking, flickering semblance of normalcy using a technique he liked to call “percussive maintenance.
“Dunno just yet, the exec said. “But its for damned sure we didnt run over a cat. Thank God you managed to get through to Earth on the compic, Vance.
A fat lot of good thats going to do us right now,Searles thought. She wondered idly how many weeks it would take for a ship from Earth to reach this remote part of the Gamma Hydra sector.
Orienting herself so that she faced one of the forward stations, Searles pushed off against a section of wall near the bridges ceiling. Her inner ear had convinced her body that she was plunging downward at breakneck speed, despite the evidence of her eyes, which confirmed that she was moving fairly slowly relative to the console.
She drifted across the three meters or so of space that still separated her from the console, into which she slammed with a surprisingly hard and loud thump. Scrambling to avoid caroming off in some random direction, a slave both to microgravity and to her own inertia, she grabbed one of the consoles gravity-failure handholdsdesigned for this very sort of mishapand began checking the internal com grid. The ships intercom network was pretty thoroughly jammed up, with upwards of three hundred people trying to call the bridge simultaneously to find out what was going on. Rebooting the console allowed at least a few individual voices to separate themselves from the background gabble of the rest of the multitude.
“Whats going on in the rest of the ship? Vance called out, cutting through the cacophony.
“We have a lot of dead and injured in the passenger and crew areas, she said, disabling the speakers to keep the horrific noise from drowning out all conversation on the bridge. A horrible bleakness shrouded her soul as she paused to speculate on whether the dead might be the lucky ones, with rescue such an unlikely option this far from Earth.
“Those cloak-and-dagger Vulcan passengers of yours must be responsible for this somehow, Vance, Stiles said, all but accusing the captain of blowing up the ship himself.
“Weve got massive hull breaches, Captain, Searles said, interpreting the multiple alarms she saw on her console.
“Drive status? Vance asked with a note of hope that Searles wished she could share.
Searles punched a button on the com console, nearly launching herself willy-nilly into the microgravity environment in the process. “Searles to engine room, she said into the voice interface. “Engine room, come in.
Nothing. Just like the first attempt shed made back in Vances office.
Searles noticed then that the Marus exec was frantically entering commands into one of the adjacent bridge consoles. “Arturo, Ive got to get back to the engine room. Find out if my people
“Its going to have to wait, Jackie, Stiles said. “The hull breaches made the emergency bulkheads slam shut.
“Do we have any idea yet why this is happening? Searles asked.
He shook his head. “Im still not sure about that. At least I dont think we were fired upon.
“Why not? Searles said, her brow crinkling.
“Because if somebody had wanted to blow us to kingdom come with, say, a torpedo of some kind, then they probably already would have launched a second one by now, and finished us off already. Stiles paused, frowning at his console. “Hey, why am I picking up such heavy graviton counts in here?
Searles shrugged. “Beats me. With the gravity plating offline, the graviton levels ought to be way belownormal.
“Then the gravitons must be leaking in from outsidethe Maru,said Stiles.
Vance launched himself quickly into the space between Searles and Stiles, using one of the emergency handholds to bring himself to a stop.
“The Romulans and the Klingons have gone to war a number of times over control of this sector, he said. “And the Romulans have been known to use gravitic mines to defend their territorial claims.
“Gravitic mines? Stiles said, an eyebrow raised.
“Ive heard of them, Searles said, nodding. “Theyre compact, high-yield graviton generators designed to focus the equivalent of huge tidal energies on a vessels hull, or on its spaceframe.
“What? Stiles said, his eyes glazing visibly in response to her explanation.
“Fancy bomb, Searles clarified. “Make part of the ship go boom. Sometimes more than one part, and not always all at once.
“Oh. So we still might take even moredamage from the same damned weapon. Crap.
“Could be worse, Searles said. “If that mine had clipped one of our neutronic fuel tanks, we wouldnt be having this conversation.
The exec turned toward his captain. “Vance, youre a gambling man. If you were handicapping our chances of getting rescued out here, how would you estimate the odds?
The orange “incoming light on the com panel near Searles began flashing insistently at that precise moment. A calm, reassuringly competent-sounding female voice emerged from the hash of static that issued from the speakers.
“Kobayashi Maru, this isEnterprise. We are on our way to your present position.
Searles watched as a broad grin spread across Vances face. “Id say our odds just got a hell of a lot better, Arturo.
Searles allowed herself the luxury of hope, if only for a moment.
Then she heard and felt the low rumble, which immediately preceded a great roar and a gale-force wind that slammed her backward into one of the battered monitors.
FORTY-FOUR
Tuesday, July 22, 21
55 EnterpriseNX-01, Gamma Hydra sector
A FTER A RCHER SIGNEDoff with Gardner and returned to the bridge, the Starfleet Academy cadets code for imponderable mysteries kept swirling through his mind.
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
Mentally translating those time-honored military placeholders into less polite nonmilitary parlance, he thought, What. The. Fuck.
“The Kobayashi Maru? Reed asked from his position at the bridges tactical station. “I find it hard to believe that Starfleet considers that rattletrap a priority.
Seated in the big chair in the bridges center, Archer spread his hands. “Thats our mission, Malcolm. We are to guarantee that vessels safety, at all costs.
According to Gardner, Starfleet regarded the beleaguered fuel carriers mission as critically important to both of its covert sponsors, Starfleet and the Vulcan High Commandeven if Earth now harbored doubts about its partnership with Vulcan. Recognizing how vital a secret listening post in the Gamma Hydra sector could be to Coalition security vis-à-vis both the Klingons and the Romulansafter all, both empires still occasionally fought each other for control of the regionArcher could find no reason to question the admirals orders, however unorthodox they might seem on the surface.
He only wished he could help Columbia. Her captain and crew now had to face peril alone.
What Enterpriseneeded was more speed, but Archer already knew there was no way to open the throttle any widernot without transforming the starship into a light-year-long plume of ionized debris. The vibrations in the deck beneath his boots confirmed that Mike Burch down in engineering had already pushed Enterprises mighty warp-five propulsion system as far as he could.
Archer glanced toward the portside communications station, where Ensign Sato continued her tireless efforts to raise the stricken freighter. “Kobayashi Maru,repeat your message, please. This is Enterprise. Repeat, we are on our way to your present position. Please confirm your status.
