Aeihk’aeleir Shipyard
THE CORPSES HAD BEEN dumped unceremoniously in an alcove near an untended hatchway that led directly into the main hangar.
Both of the dead men were uniformed Romulan soldiers. From the severity of the burns to their chests and abdomens, Trip judged they’d been slain by point-blank disruptor fire. And the fact that the nearby hatchway was both unguarded and open was apparently related to the fact that the dead men had been the ones in charge of guarding it.
Trip was also bothered by the fact that he had never seen either of the men before. “None of us did this,” he said, glancing up at Tevik and Ych’a as he knelt beside the bodies.
Tevik knelt beside Trip and began cold-bloodedly rifling through the soldiers’ scorched and bloodied uniform tunics, until he located a small data chip.
“Identification,” he said, holding up the chip momentarily before rising and tucking it into his pocket. “This could prove invaluable.”
Ych’a glanced at her wrist chronometer, looking as close to nervous as Vulcans ever did. “Mister Sodok, I must point out that we do not have sufficient time to conduct a murder investigation.”
“Good point,” he said as he got to his feet. He then fell into step behind Ych’a and Tevik as they moved at a quick, crouching trot through the long, low-ceilinged run of umbilical scaffolding that ended at the outer hull of the Sh’Raan-class Vulcan ship.
Constrained by time, the three had agreed very quickly that the Vulcan vessel represented their best hope of getting out of here alive. Since Ych’a was most familiar with its systems, she would have a better chance of getting the ship clear of the hangar before the reactor blew. Using the Sh’Raan for their escape would also remove a valuable piece of captured Vulcan technology from Romulan hands, and the detonation of the Aeihk’aeleir Shipyard’s reactor core would take out the prototype, thus satisfying their mission objective.
Trip had lost track of precisely how much time remained before the thermal charges they’d planted in the reactor room went boom and sent this place to its reward. But as they reached the Sh’Raan ship’s outer hatch, he could feel in his bones that there couldn’t be more than a couple of minutes left, tops.
“If I understand this facility’s work schedule, the ship should be empty except for a few technicians,” Tevik said as he used the slain Romulan soldier’s ID chip to open the nearest access hatch that led into the Vulcan starship’s interior.
Moments later, Trip and Tevik were following Ych’a down the curving length of an empty, dimly illuminated corridor. “The nearest turboshaft with direct bridge access is this way,” she said.
In short order, the trio entered a turbolift car whose doors obediently enclosed them. Trip felt the slight heaviness in his boots that signaled the lift’s upward surge in response to Ych’a’s terse voice command.
Then the lift came to an abrupt, lurching stop. Ych’a and Tevik traded significant glances that made them both appear very nearly alarmed.
“Nuts,” Trip said.
At least when the big boom comes, he thought, I’ll be able to get away with acting a little bit surprised.