My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane

Author:Diane Duane [Duane, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780671704216
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 1989-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Jim sat in his center seat and wondered at the strangeness of the world.

Here he was, deep into Romulan space, surrounded by Romulan ships; not even under way, his engines only producing enough power to run ship's systems and keep themselves alive. Another eighteen hours would see the Enterprise towed into a Romulan starbase. Yet he sat in his chair, and turning to one side, he could see Scotty leaning back in his station's chair, grumpily eyeing the nonexistent power conversion levels in the not-really-blown-up port nacelle, while delivering a rapid-fire lecture on the difficulties of the restart procedure to the slim dark Romulan man looking over his shoulder. Hvaid, that one was. Turning the other way, there were Mr. Spock and Lieutenant Kerasus and young Aidoann, Ael's third-in-command, deep in conversation about Old High Vulcan linguistic roots and their manifestations in modern Vulcan and Romulan. And Uhura would be--She wasn't, though. Jim's train of thought was temporarily derailed. "Mr. Spock, where's Lieutenant Uhura?"

"She went down to Recreation, Captain," Spock said. "I did not catch the entire conversation, but there was some communications problem to which she felt Mr. Freeman from Life Sciences had the answer."

"Fine. Where's the Commander?"

"I believe she is also down in Recreation, Captain. Lieutenant Uhura requested the Commander's presence there shortly after she left."

Jim got up, stretched--and stopped the gesture abruptly; his neck muscles still ached from the backhand the Commander had given him. "All right, Mr. Spock, mind the store till I get back."

"Acknowledged," Spock said. He moved down to the center seat, and Kerasus and Aidoann moved with him, the analysis of Vulcan phonemes missing hardly a beat.

"Sickbay," Jim said to the lift, and off it went. He leaned against the wall, rubbing his neck.

There was something bothering him about this whole business. Not a feeling that Ael or her people might betray him--not that specifically. But the whole matter of where the Enterprise was, of both capture and escape being out of his hands

Out of his control. That was it.

The old problem , Jim thought, with some chagrin. He remembered all too vividly that little incident back on Triacus with Gorgan the soi-disant "Friendly Angel," in which that fear, his worst one, had been inflamed to paralyzing proportions. This isn't nearly that bad, he told himself severely. And I did choose to do this. It was my decision. But all the same, it had been Ael who came to him with the idea all ready-made; and even when he had been ready to refuse her, damned if circumstances didn't force him to accept her plan.

Circumstances. Very convenient circumstances, too

Oh, stop that! That's paranoia!

Still, it was difficult not to be paranoid about this woman. A Romulan, to begin with

Well, that by itself wasn't reason to mistrust her. But she had admitted to Jim that she had rigged most of the circumstances that had brought the Enterprise here--even to the point of paying a considerable amount in bribes to have the information about "something going on in Romulan space" smuggled out to Starfleet Command, planted where they would hear it.

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