Open Secrets

“How much longer can T’Pry

After taking another sip of his water, Sobon cleared his throat. “I do not know. Our best course of action may be to proceed regardless of my confidence in my own abilities.”

Any action rather than no action,M’Benga thought. As a physician who had treated his share of life-threatening injuries under risky conditions without adequate equipment and lacking any true sense of whether the patient would survive, he could sympathize with Sobon’s reasoning. Standing by and doing nothing guaranteed T’Pry

38

Nogura paced back and forth across the length of his office, ignoring the looks of Commander Cooper, Ambassador Jetanien, and Dr. Marcus. Though he was not a man given to outward displays of strong emotion, this was one of those occasions when some kind of demonstrative response seemed appropriate.

“Damn it!”

The outburst made Marcus—who already seemed a bit shaken, anyway—jump in her seat, and even Cooper flinched a bit. If it affected Jetanien, the ambassador offered no clue. Nogura had to admit that he surprised himself with his reaction. It had been building, of course, from the moment he received the first reports from Captain Okagawa detailing the incident at Erilon. The audacity exhibited by the Klingons angered him—not so much the actions themselves, as they generally were in keeping with what experience had taught him about Klingons. Instead, it was the idea that the empire felt it could, with impunity, direct its ships against Starfleet vessels and Federation interests. It did not ease his mounting irritation to know that the Federation Council and Starfleet Command seemed willing to allow this behavior to continue unchecked. They stubbornly hung their hopes on the diplomats from either side, who even now remained locked in a room somewhere, participating in what Nogura believed was an increasingly preposterous exercise in futility.

No, it was more than that, Nogura knew. The Klingons were more than happy to allow the charade of diplomacy to continue, all while they refined their strategies, deployed their forces, and even sharpened their blades in anticipation of what they saw as imminent war.

We’re not there yet,he reminded himself. But we’re not that far off.

“I apologize for that,” he said. After pausing to draw what he hoped was a calming breath, he turned to Cooper. “Commander, what’s the latest from the Lovell?”

Shifting in his chair, the executive officer replied, “Captain Okagawa reports that they’ve conducted four separate searches of the entire underground complex, at least those areas that are accessible. They’ve found no sign of Lieutenant Xiong, living or otherwise. However, Lovell’s sensor logs recorded transporter activity to and from the Klingon ship. According to Okagawa’s science officer, Xiong was beamed to that ship, and he was alive when it happened.”

“They kidnapped him?” Marcus asked, scowling. “I didn’t think Klingons took prisoners.”

Jetanien replied, “Generally speaking, Doctor, they do not. There have been exceptions, however.”

“Don’t believe the propaganda,” Nogura added. “If there’s something to be gained from taking a prisoner, the Klingons will do it as quickly as anyone else. Of course, they don’t usually treat their prisoners very well, so you’re normally better off if they just kill you outright.” Looking to Cooper, he asked, “I assume the Lovellattempted to track the Klingon ship?”

Cooper nodded. “They did, Admiral, but by the time they figured out what had happened, the ship was long gone. They tried to track them based on their last-known course heading, but Captain Okagawa reports that sensors showed that the ship employed an evasive flight path, designed to throw off anyone trying to track it.”

“I understand Xiong and his team were making some real progress,” Nogura said.

Nodding, Marcus said, “They were, Admiral. They’d succeeded in accessing a few of the Shedai computer systems, though that success was largely limited by other factors out of their control. While they were able to inspect local components of what we believe to be the global computer network, they didn’t have any luck co

“But they did create some form of broadcast off the planet, did they not?” Jetanien asked. “Is it possible that this was detected by the Tholians, and that’s what drew them to Erilon?”

Marcus shrugged. “Maybe. Even with the progress we—that is, Lieutenant Xiong—has made, we still know very little about Shedai technology. Still, he and his team learned to use the Jinoteur carrier wave as a means of searching for other locations where Shedai technology was hidden. The Tholians may possess a similar means of detection. We also don’t know what it means when a Shedai consciousness—or a Tholian’s, in the case of Nezrene—enters these computer networks, as Xiong seemed to believe. Are they projecting themselves in some fashion? Is that detectable somehow to other Tholians, even if they’re not co

“There’s a lot we don’t know about the Tholians,” Jetanien said, “but I do know that they have been affected by the presence of the Shedai. I’ve seen their reactions with my own eyes. On some level, they were aware of its consciousness.” Even as Nogura moved to stand behind his desk, the Chel ambassador adopted the admiral’s pacing. “We know that Tholian crystalline physiology is such that their bodies can themselves be used as a sort of short-range transmitter. It stands to reason that they can receive communications in similar fashion, particularly if the source is something as powerful as we believe the Shedai to be.”

“Are you suggesting that those other Tholians somehow detected Nezrene herselfwhile she was working within the computer?” Cooper asked, frowning. “With all due respect, Ambassador, that seems a little far-fetched.”

Marcus shook her head. “Maybe not, Commander. After all, there’s a lot we don’t know about the Tholians, either. Perhaps they possess some kind of…I don’t know…if not outright telepathy, then at least an ability to broadcast or project themselves over communications frequencies, much as Ambassador Jetanien hypothesized.”

Nogura made a show of clearing his throat to get the attention of his three visitors. “People, as fascinating as this discussion is, none of it’s of any use in determining the fate of Lieutenant Xiong. I think we can at least entertain the idea that he was deliberately targeted, likely for his knowledge of the Shedai.” Such a possibility did not enthuse Nogura, to say the least. Though he had no doubts that Xiong would do his best to protect the secrets he carried, the admiral had seen firsthand the effects of Klingon “interrogation techniques” and knew that every man, no matter his strength of will, had a breaking point. Sooner or later, the Klingons who had taken Xiong would extract from him what they required.

He looked up when he heard a sniffing sound and saw Marcus reaching up to dab a tear from the corner of her left eye. “Doctor, are you all right?”

Marcus drew a deep breath as she straightened her posture and shook her head. “I don’t…it’s just…I keep thinking this is my fault.”

“You were driven to find answers, Doctor,” Nogura said, “which is exactly why Starfleet sent you out here. I knew the risks in sending a team to Erilon, and you didn’t talk me into anything I wasn’t already considering. Not that any of that matters, as I’m the one who authorized the mission. If anyone’s to be blamed, it’ll be me.” Sending subordinates into dangerous situations was a reality of command, Nogura knew, and he had carried the scars of that harsh truth for most of his adult life. That experience never made such decisions any easier, and the admiral feared the day would come when he might look upon such responsibility with cold dispassion.