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The cleric nodded. “You were not born a priest, my friend, and neither was I. Before Oralius called me to walk the Way, I was a public transporter clerk in Lakarian City.”
A crooked smile appeared on Darrah’s face. “Okay. Nowwe have a plan.”
There was a heart-stopping moment when the smoky interior of the cargo bay melted away from him and Darrah felt the transporter beam take hold. The last thing he saw was Be
Then he was in a white space that was full of sound. He felt something cold tug at the skin on his neck, and he blinked furiously. Strong hands took his arms and guided him forward. He swallowed and took a cautious breath.
His eyes refocused on the face of a severe-looking bald man in a Militia uniform. The man waved a tricorder at the inspector and nodded. “You’re fine. The electrolytic booster shot I just gave you will kick in quickly, but for the time being don’t do anything strenuous.”
“Right.” He glanced around the transporter room and found Be
“Medical bay,” said the bald man. “You’re on board the assault ship Clarion.”
“My ship.” The words came from another man who approached them with a purposeful gait. “Colonel Li Tarka, Space Guard.”
“Inspector Darrah Mace, City Watch. Thank you, sir.”
Li had the stone-cut ma
Darrah shook his head and indicated the Cardassian priest. “That was Be
The other man made a small noise of surprise. “Quick thinking, Mr. Be
Be
“There’s a lot of people who owe you their lives,” Li replied, and Darrah could sense that the other man found it difficult to attribute such behavior to an alien.
“Aside from us, how many others made it to safety?” asked Darrah.
The bald man frowned. “A few escape pods were ejected from the platform and one of the bulk lighters on the far side of the docking array. There were some beam-outs, and we’re tracking them down at the moment, but some were probably lost in transit. The numbers are grim, Inspector. Cemba Station alone had a crew of two hundred and ten people, and there were five ships of varying to
Be
“I’ve already spoken to your man Proka,” Li continued in a brusque ma
“A reactor malfunction aboard the Lhemor,maybe a cascade failure from a plasma breach?” He sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not an engineer, Colonel, I’m a police officer.”
Li’s flinty expression never altered. “Then I’m surprised your first assumption is that it was an accident.”
Be
The colonel directed the bald man to a wallscreen. “Kored, show them,” he ordered.
The display lit up with waveforms of sensor data. Darrah recognized the basic shapes from the thousands of pieces of forensic data he came across in his caseload.
“I don’t understand,” said the cleric. “What are we looking at?”
Darrah pointed. “Sca
“This is the raw feed,” Li explained, “and we’re not done sifting the patterns yet. The Clarionwas close by when the explosion took place. We were conducting operational drills, one of which happened to be a sensor test.”
Operational drills.That was likely a euphemism for ru
“See here.” Li indicated a particular set of waveforms that crested from the mass of signals in the microsecond after the detonation. “Do you know what those are?”
“It’s artificial,” Darrah replied, his mind automatically kicking into investigative mode. “You can tell by the dispersal pattern. I’d say definitely not the result of a malfunction.” His lips thi
“The discharge originated just below the warp core,” said Kored.
“Any line on a trigger signal?” He leaned closer, ru
“Negative. It’s possible it’s there, but we haven’t been able to pick it out yet.”
Darrah nodded to himself. “A timer, then, or a proximity switch.” He halted the waveform display again and glanced at Li. “Colonel, are you seeing this as well? The peaks here and here?” He indicated two distinct energy spikes. “Those are molecular markers.”
“Ultritium and triceron. Both extremely lethal explosive compounds,” said the officer.
“That’s an exotic mix,” Darrah said immediately, his mind racing. “Undetectable by transporters and most civilian sensor suites. A military-grade munition, probably.”
“I concur, Inspector. You know your job.”
Darrah nodded. “Activists from the Circle have been making noise in Kendra Province recently. We’ve been on the lookout for bombings. I was briefed by General Coldri on some worst-case scenarios…”
“The device, it’s not Cardassian.” Li eyed the priest. “At this point, the weapon profile only fits three possible origins. Gorn, Nausicaan—”
“Or Tzenkethi,” said Darrah.
“Order! Order!”The First Minister struggled to be heard over the chaos in the chamber as everyone in the room tried to talk at once. Lo
Finally Lale slammed his fist on the table in front of him and the sound echoed like a thunderclap. The wave of voices from the ministers ebbed for a moment, and the man drew himself up. “At last. Are we children? This is an emergency session, and a matter for serious debate, not for squabbling and posturing.”
Lo
Lale Usbor sat, and by degrees his usual ma