Caveat Emptor

[Tachyon 0]

“Caveat Emptor”

Lt. Anastasia Poldara

-----------------------------------

 

The discovery that the Magna Romans had, either with help or through reverse engineering, developed their warp drive from Klingon specifications, was very anticlimactic for Anastasia. Worse, it irked her. Up until now, these Romans had been a mystery—did they confirm or disconfirm Hodgkin? How had they managed to develop not only warp drive but subspace communications and the ancillary systems for both inventions? They were a paradox, and that interested Anastasia.

 

Now, with the revelation that they had copied the Klingon warp drive, they were just boring.

 

One mystery remained, of course. How had they discovered Klingon warp drive? Had they made contact with the Klingons and arranged some form of trade? If so, the implications for any alliances the Romans made with the Federation were dire. How long had this partnership been in effect? To what level of aid and exchange did it extend? The politics didn't interest Anastasia as much as the ramifications this had on Roman development. On the other hand, Anastasia had to consider the possibility that they had merely salvaged a wrecked Klingon vessel and reverse-engineered the technology aboard. Either would explain the sudden increase in technological complexity of 892-IV, but the possibilities themselves were mutually exclusive.

 

And she was willing to bet that Consul Quintus knew which one held.

 

At first, Anastasia had no clear plan. Never a great poker player at the Academy, she had always favoured the direct approach in confrontation. Yet, as curious as she was to get the truth out of the Consul, Anastasia had a modicum of common sense, and she had no desire to cause an interstellar diplomatic incident. The paperwork alone would be prohibitive.

 

But if she was careful, if she asked the right questions, she might be able to discern something that would decide in favour of one theory or the other. Anastasia suspected that Captain Seiben and Ensign M'Guire had been trying this tactic themselves earlier. As she approached Quintus, she saw that he was already agitated, as if something about his conversation with Seiben and M'Guire had left him wondering how much the Challenger crew really knew. It was time to use that uncertainty to her advantage.

 

In the subsequent conversation, Anastasia discovered that her initial suspicion was the correct one: the Klingons had given the warp drive and other technology directly to the Romans. Quintus' evasion of inquiries related to testing and prototypes and the awkward, half-hearted explanations offered up by Flavius indicated the Romans had a very theoretical grasp of how the warp drive would actually operate. Anastasia was willing to bet they had never tested one themselves, or at least not one they had built entirely on their own. Had the Romans invented the warp drive independently or even reverse-engineered it from alien technology, they would have left a messy trail of tests, prototypes, and deadends. It was too clean.

 

Anastasia could tell from M'Guire's interjections that she was treading dangerous diplomatic ground. One does not accuse one's potential allies of stealing technology—indeed, Quintus seemed ready to seize upon this implication and turn it into an insult against the Romans. Just as it seemed that Anastasia would have to concede defeat and back down, she thought of another way she could extract an admission from the consul.

 

The warp-capable vessel being assembled in this factory was quite warp-capable indeed. Anastasia knew that; the Klingons knew that. Yet Quintus, as her questioning had made so obvious, did not know that. He had only the Klingons' word that the specifications would yield a working superluminal propulsion device. And so, Anastasia decided to see how he would react if she claimed their warp drive was faulty.

 

It was gratifying to know that even if she could never manage a bluff in poker, she had won this game. Quintus' sudden, incredulous reaction was all the proof they needed. Elation overwhelmed Anastasia, pushing aside the niggling realization that it would now be up to the diplomats on their crew to smooth over the feathers she had just ruffled. She had arrived at the truth, and for her, that was all that mattered.

 

The Klingons had beat Challenger, if not Hodgkin, to 892-IV. But to what purpose? What value did this planet or its people hold in the eyes of the Klingons? And what other secrets did the Magna Romans still possess?

 

Maybe, Anastasia mused, she had been wrong. Maybe things were just getting interesting after all.