Shit!

But there had to be someway to use the console to get a message out to his former captain. As bad as things had frequently gotten at times during his long sojourn in Romulan space, he had yet to find himself facing the truly insurmountable odds of a no‑win situation.

Several agonizingly long minutes passed, like ice boulders slowly rolling down a hill in reluctant deference to Tritons skimpy gravity. Once he realized that neither Sopek nor any of his increasingly busy crew seemed able or willing to invest much attention in him, he resumed his quiet exploration of the console before him. He made no attempt to move furtively, since that would probably attract more of the unwelcome attentions of the disruptor‑toting guard whose eyes he could already feel drilling into the back of his head like laser‑powered asteroid borers.

But he didtry to hide his triumphant smile from view after the answer finally came to him.

FORTY‑SEVEN

Enterprise NX‑01, Gamma Hydra sector

“L EAVING SECTION ELEVEN, C APTAIN , Mayweather said. “Entering section ten. Contact with the Kobayashi Maruon long‑range navigational sensors.

“Very good, Travis, Archer said, wincing slightly as he leaned forward on his chair. Despite the lingering pain in his side, he found the movement hard to resist, as though by gaining a few additional centimeters of proximity to the main bridge viewer, he might make any lurking hull‑breach hazards more apparent and avoidable. “Steady as she goes. And keep scanning for gravitic mines or anything else that might sink us.

“The sensors are already tuned to maximum resolution enhancement, Captain, said TPol, most of her attention apparently riveted to the hooded scanner on her science station.

“Tactical systems are also running everything through a pretty fine sieve, Captain, said Reed, who stood at the aft tactical array, entering commands and studying representations of power curves and marching columns of figures. “Phase cannons and photonic torpedoes are ready as well. Ill be damned if I let anything bigger than a Ping‑Pong ball get within ten thousand klicks of us.

Despite his lingering mixed feelings about the unauthorized actions TPol and Reed had recently taken, Archer was nevertheless grateful for the restoration of the core of his alpha‑watch crew. The entire bridge crew seemed keenly aware, as he was, that this far away from any human‑inhabited world, rescue was a commodity that was strictly BYOBring Your Own. All Starfleet personnel, from midshipmen up through the admiralty, recognized this sobering fact.

But in the case of the vessel toward which Enterprisenow hurtled, rescue was indeed on the way. The master and commander of theS.S. Kobayashi Maru has got to be the luckiest freighter captain in the history of maritime disasters,Archer thought.

Despite the remoteness of this region of space, Archer was already somewhat familiar with the portion of it that Enterprisehad just entered; it lay well inside the boundaries of a not‑yet‑ratified “neutral zone that Vulcan and Andoria had recently jointly proposed as a buffer zone between Coalition space and the vast unknown regions controlled by the mysterious Romulan Star Empire. None of the other Coalition member worlds, including Earth, had raised any serious objections to the idea.

Archer, however, harbored serious doubts that the Romulans would pay even the slightest attention to any such resolution. He was certain that they would go right on scrapping with the Klingons over the many resource‑rich systems scattered across this swatch of what the stellar cartographers had dubbed the Milky Ways Beta Quadrant. And that was to say nothing of their current plan to foment dissension and possibly even warfare between the Coalitions member planets.

“The Kobayashi Marushould be coming within extreme visual range now, Captain, TPol said.

“Graviton counts at the vessels coordinates are going through the roof, said Reed.

“That would be consistent with the detonation of a gravitic mine, TPol said crisply, in full Vulcan mode.

“Lets have a look at her, TPol. Maximum magnification.

The star‑flecked darkness that lay ahead of Enterpriseswiftly gave way to the grainy image of a badly battered freighter; the tapering shape was silhouetted only faintly in the dim reflected glow of one of the countless irregularly shaped ice bodies that made up the frigid halo of cometary debris that surrounded the dim and distant star Tezel and its co‑orbital partner, the even dimmer gas‑giant‑protostar Oroko. Though the vessels long, narrow lines gave it only a superficial resemblance to a Klingon battle cruiser, Archers central nervous system found the similarity close enough to make his hackles rise.

“Whats our ETA, Travis? Archer asked, finally succumbing to the urge to rise from his chair and begin pacing across the middle of the bridge.

“Well come within transporter range in about four minutes, Captain, the helmsman said as he checked a nav display and entered a small course correction.

“The MACO and Starfleet emergency boarding teams are assembled and ready, Captain, said TPol. “Theyve prepped the shuttlepods in both launch bays, and are standing by at the transporter pad.

“Sickbay reports ready as well, Captain, Hoshi said from her com station.

“Captain, Im reading another vessel in orbit around one of this systems Kuiper bodies, Malcolm said, sounding alarmed.

Archers hackles stiffened even further. “What kind of vessel?

“Her profile is consistent with that of a Romulan warship, Captain, Reed said, sounding almost eager to get a closer look.

Romulans. Great. Swell.On the other hand, this could be an opportunity to gather whatever additional proof of Romulan aggression even the most skeptical Coalition representative might require. “Location?

“About two million kilometers on the other side of the Kobayashi Maru.

Well, they cant do very much damage to either of us atthat range,Archer thought. “Keep tabs on it, Malcolm. Let me know immediately if she starts moving.

“Aye, sir. Reed immediately set about entering a new series of commands into his tactical station.

“Hoshi, raise the Kobayashi Marus captain, Archer said.

Hoshis fingers moved nimbly across her com console. “Opening a channel, Captain.

“Captain Vance, this is Enterprise,Archer said, raising his voice slightly for the benefit of the com systems audio pickups. “We can begin transporting your survivors in two minutes.

“Archer, I never thought Id be so glad to hearyour voice again,Vance said, all but shouting over a sibilant background wash of static. “Seems unlikely, doesnt it?

Archer let a small smile crease his lips, since he was certain that he knew a good deal more about the Kobayashi Marus mission than Vance would have preferred. “Probably about as likely as your ship sailing so far off the edge of the map, Captain.

“Believe me, Captain Archer, theMaru would be navigating far safer waters right now had theHorizon showed up for our rendezvous when she was supposed to.

Mayweather turned his chair so that he faced Archer, his eyes wide with concern.

Picking up on his helmsmans obvious distress, Archer continued addressing Vance. “The Horizon? Are you referring to Paul Mayweathers Earth Cargo Service freighter, Captain Vance?

Another blast of static preceded Vances scratchy reply. “The same. We were supposed to transfer our, ah, cargo to her at Psi Octantis, which is a whole lot closer to the Coalition side of this sector. She never turned up there, so were making the delivery she was supposed

The tide of static rose abruptly, drowning out whatever Vance might have had to say next.