Star Trek ENT - 11 The Good That Men Do by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin

Author:Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin [Andy Mangels]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Radio and Television Novels, Space Opera, Adventure, Interplanetary Voyages, Star Trek Fiction, Archer, Jonathan (Fictitious Character)
ISBN: 9780743440011
Publisher: Star Trek
Published: 2014-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

Fortunately, Rator II wasn’t far away from where the Branson had been waylaid by the Romulan patrol; it took only the better part of a day to reach at the Branson’s maximum speed of warp 4.5.

On the other hand, the fact that this obscure Romulan colony world was so easy to get to filled Trip with worry that the very patrols they thought they’d eluded were quietly following, just waiting to pounce on them as well as on Phuong’s local Ejhoi Ormiin contacts, whom he assumed would be harboring the much sought-after Doctor Ehrehin.

Trip watched the pleasantly blue world as it grew in the forward viewports until the warm radiance of its cloud-dappled sunlit side dominated his view. The planet seemed extraordinarily Earth-like, although its ocean-dominated surface was punctuated by long chains of volcanic islands rather than large continental masses. The view became distorted for several minutes as Phuong guided his vessel into the atmosphere on a landing trajectory, atmospheric friction superheating the air around the craft until it ionized and gave off an almost blinding orange glow. Then, almost like a light turning off, the inferno dissipated, replaced by a view of a steadily approaching ocean, replete with a chain of black, mountainous, and vegetation-rich islands.

Following an apparently preprogrammed approach path, Phuong set the Branson down on a relatively flat stretch of obsidian-like rock, only a few hundred meters from what appeared to be a concrete Quonset hut-type structure that seemed almost to have been extruded directly from the glassy stone that surrounded it.

“The local Ejhoi Ormiin union hall, I presume?” Trip asked wryly, gesturing through the front viewport toward the nearby structure.

“So say our best intelligence files,” Phuong said, nodding.

Trip powered down the console in front of him and rose from his copilot’s chair. “Let’s hope your best turns out to be good enough.” Instinctively, Trip moved aft toward the weapons locker Phuong had showed him shortly after he’d first come aboard and opened it.

“We won’t be needing those,” Phuong said.

Trip turned toward the other man and scowled. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“No, Commander, I mean it. We’re talking about the Ejhoi Ormiin here. They may be trustworthy, but they’re also extremely careful and more than a little justifiably paranoid. The best we can hope for is that they’ll politely relieve us of any weapons we’re carrying while we’re here. The worst is that you’ll panic them and get us both shot.”

Trip had to concede that Phuong had a point. He clearly had a lot to learn about the world of espionage, and suspected that Phuong’s diplomatic background had served him well. After another moment’s hesitation, he closed the locker.

Without any further conversation, the two men each ran a quick systems check on the special travel garments they’d picked up on Adigeon Prime. Once they were satisfied that everything was as it should be, they exited the Branson through the port hatch and descended to the dark, glassy-looking surface, which turned out not to be anywhere near as slick and slippery as it had appeared from the air.

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