Star Trek: Enterprise: The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm by Michael A. Martin

Author:Michael A. Martin [Martin, Michael A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2010-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

Day Six, Romulan Month of Tasmeen, 1183 YD’E

Tuesday, June 24, 2159

Gasko II

THE BREVITY OF THE FIGHT for control of the shipbuilding complex had come as no surprise to Subcommander Terix; with a few notable exceptions, the Ejhoii Ormiin radicals weren’t known for their combat prowess. Terix’s men, by contrast, were all drawn from elite units attached to Valdore’s Fifth Legion. They had completed every phase of today’s assault, from the surprise landing to the securing of the dissident base’s perimeter, in less time than it took an enlisted uhlan to consume a meal in the crew mess.

What had surprised Terix was the identity of the man in charge of the small group of dissidents his strike force had captured today. His black paramilitary garb reduced to charred rags, his cheek and brow a mottled, livid green mass of second-degree burns, there could be no mistaking him for anyone else.

“Ch’uivh,” Terix said, allowing more of his incredulity to show than he had intended. “Or would you prefer I call you Captain Sopek?”

The traitor’s words came in short, rasping gasps, as though the very act of breathing pained him. “You seem…surprised…to see me.”

Terix leaned against the heavy obsidian-surfaced desk in what remained of the traitor’s disruptor-seared office. He was tempted to dismiss the pair of guards that he’d posted just inside the blast-charred doorway but decided that doing so would be imprudent.

“The Tal Shiar reported that they’d killed you,” Terix said.

The traitor chuckled, then groaned in pain. “You can’t believe…everything…the Tal Shiar tells you.”

Terix shrugged. The Tal Shiar had been reliable enough in obtaining the coordinates of this planet and relaying that information to Terix’s logistics unit. When it came to information about Ch’uivh/Sopek, the spy bureau may have had a different agenda. Perhaps the bureau had its own designs on the man and thus preferred that anyone who wished to detain him believe instead that searching for him would be an exercise in futility.

Ah, the twisted life of a spy, Terix thought. He rejoiced that he had answered the call of the soldier.

Moving at a brisk clip, Centurion Sitav—a young male officer dressed in a combat-distressed uniform—entered the office, a padd clutched in his hand.

“Report,” Terix said as he accepted the padd from the centurion. After all the setbacks—not least of them the radicals’ sudden abandonment of their facility on Carraya IV and the disappearance of the reconnaissance mission—Admiral Valdore was going to expect good news for a change.

“We’ve counted seven completed vessels in the Ejhoi Ormiin manufacturing and storage complex, Subcommander,” Sitav said.

“Warp-seven-capable vessels, Centurion?” Terix allowed himself a slender reed of hope that Dr. Ehrehin’s elusive dream of avaihh lli vastam not only might have come to fruition, but had also fallen right into his lap.

“Apparently so, Subcommander.”

Terix grinned. “Have you found evidence that the radicals might have launched any of their new vessels prior to our arrival?”

“No, Subcommander.” Sitav shook his head. “We appear to have caught them in the midst of their final preparations.”

Terix nodded. “What about

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