While You Were Away

[T'Prise 0]

“Have you located the Vulcan?” the gruff voice questioned without preamble as the man known to Starfleet as Ensign Holdaway slid into an occupied booth at the back of the Redstar Nightclub.

 

The Ensign shook his head in the negative, giving his questioner a piercing look. “The orders for her transfer were delayed. By the time they reached her, Vechnesk was already taken care of and no one could confirm them, and the Manticore was deployed from Starbase 9 too quickly to have the problem fixed. Their mission is highly classified; making inquiries will only raise unwanted questions. She sent a communiqué to her father before the ship departed, but it was relatively dull, as Vulcan correspondence usually is, and only contained recipes.”

 

“What about your sources aboard the ship?” the voice queried, full of vitriol.

 

“Apparently the crew was given the option of staying behind on this mission because of the inherent dangers, and the fool who reports to me opted to do so.” Holdaway shook his head in disgust. “All I was able to get out of him was that the Vulcan, the Lieutenant was often seen in the company of the science chief, a Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Escher. However, I have since learned that Commander Escher requisitioned a special concentrated mix of antimatter, similar to what was used in the Peregrination Project, and that it arrived prior to the Manticore’s departure.”

 

The booth fell silent as each of its occupants pondered what such intelligence could possibly mean.

 

“Do you believe this means he knows?” the brusque voice demanded after a few moments of silence.

 

Holdaway began to nod. “I can’t fathom any other reason for him to have ordered the antimatter.”

 

“Then he will have to be eliminated as well.”