Hoshi took a look at the model of the solar system. "The captain gave us one heck of a job, didn't he?"
Reed laughed softly and looked over at her. "Well, they say it's the tough jobs that matter most."
"That's what I'm talking about," Hoshi said, rubbing her forehead.
Reed shook his head. "I just can't see a reasonable method for defending a planet! A ship, yes, but a planet…it's so large scale, Hoshi!"
Hoshi looked at her PADD. "How about a minefield, Malcolm?"
Reed sighed. "No, static defenses are completely out of the question. Besides, even if we could construct a minefield encompassing the space around Earth, it'd prevent anything from coming in as well as going out. All we need is cheap, quickly producible, and super-powerful weapons. Quite a tall order, wouldn't you say?"
"Can Starfleet possibly finish the NX-02 by the time the Klingons come?"
"Unfortunately not. Its estimated time of completion is 2 months from now."
Hoshi growled and Reed burst out laughing. Indignantly, Hoshi said, "Just what do you find amusing about this, Malcolm Reed?"
Still laughing, Reed replied, "I'm sorry, Hoshi, it's just you." When he saw her expression darken, he added, "Meant as a compliment, of course."
Hoshi returned to the subject sarcastically. "Why don't they warp Starfleet HQ into the fleet? That might take down a few ships."
Reed smiled as he imagined the clunky Starbase at full ramming speed.
Hoshi sighed. "Well, it was better than the minefield idea."
Reed's laughter turned into stunned silence. While he couldn't picture Starfleet HQ warping into unsuspecting Klingon ships, he definitely could see mines warping into them. "Hoshi, you're a genius!" he said excitedly.
***
Archer rubbed his eyes. I think I would have been happier not knowing all this information he thought ruefully to himself as he reviewed the Klingon ship specs. I think Malcolm was being optimistic about our chances! He couldn't help laughing at hearing himself think of such a thing. Malcolm Reed optimistic…my, have times changed.
Just as the Klingon shield frequencies started blurring with crew duty roster information, Archer heard a buzz. "Come in," he called.
Reed and Hoshi entered his ready room, looking nothing short of ecstatic. Archer breathed a sigh of relief. "Have you found anything?"
Hoshi smiled. "As a matter of fact, yes. We've adapted the minefield principle to serve us—if the Klingons won't run into the mines, why not run the mines into them?"
Reed nodded his approval. "Sir, if Starfleet could add a warp drive to something as small as a standard torpedo…"
Archer nodded. "They'll be able to use it as some sort of high-speed projectile weapon. Hoshi, contact Starfleet Command about our discovery."
Reed looked at the Captain strangely and motioned for Hoshi to
stop. "Um, Captain, I wouldn't advise directly communicating our findings with
Earth—at least not yet."
Hoshi and Archer looked at him. Archer asked, "Why not, Malcolm?"
"Sir, the Klingons are most likely monitoring communications frequencies between us and Starfleet HQ. If they managed to intercept a message containing our battle strategies, they'd be prepared for whatever we put up against them."
Archer shook his head in disbelief. "That, Malcolm, is why I have an Armory officer. I can't believe I didn't think of that myself. Oh, is there anything else?" he added as he saw Reed lost in thought.
"Sir, I was just thinking—we'd need to hide our mines' warp signatures with an ionic masking device of some sort. This whole plan goes out the airlock if the Klingons activate their shields, something they'd surely do."
Hoshi spoke up, "Malcolm, I thought for sure that I'd read a report about these warp signature maskers somewhere saying that they didn't work and took up too much power. Are you sure that they're an option here?"
Reed shook his head. "The reason why the report—written by H. Hughes, I believe—denounces the maskers is because they were tested on a ship the size of Enterprise. It would be much more efficient to employ such a device on a smaller warp engine, namely the one we would use on each of the torpedoes."
Archer held up his hands. "Ok, I think that's enough for now. Iron out the fine points of your plan to present to Starfleet—make sure every detail is covered. We won't have much time to refine it after we get to Earth." He bit his lip nervously at the thought.
***
Trip looked over at his console. "It looks like this job's going nowhere soon, Travis. The warp drive's already at 98 percent efficiency."
Mayweather shook his head. "Maybe we should go to the Captain's plan B—do you think we could use the warp core itself as some sort of weapon?"
Trip thought a moment before responding, "Well, Travis, in theory the core could be detonated to produce some small-scale antimatter explosion. I can't see it affecting more than two or three ships, but boy, would they be toast!"
"How would we eject the core in the first place?"
"Well, there're magnetic seals all around it. We could rig the computer to link them all together to be released at the same time, but that wouldn't be pretty if we were traveling at warp speed. We'd rip the ship apart like paper through a shredder."
Mayweather raised his eyebrows. "We'd have to eject it at impulse? How would we survive the antimatter blast? We'd be as dead as the Klingons."
Trip nodded solemnly. "That's the problem, Travis—we'd have to dump it and run. I don't know how smart the Klingons are, but I doubt they'd come within a thousand kilometers of a warp core just sitting in space."
Mayweather shrugged. "What are we going to tell the Captain?"
Trip grinned. "We could ask him for a spare warp core."
***
Captain Archer's mood changed swiftly as T'Pol reported her communications with Soval. "So you're telling me that the Vulcans are going to make Earth fend for itself? If they can't distract the Klingons, they could at least send a fleet over to Earth to help!"
T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "It is not as simple as it appears, Captain. Vulcan has its own affairs."
Archer looked away. "You're dismissed, sub-commander." After the doors shut behind T'Pol, he shut off his computer and put his head in his hands. Think about the finals. Two goals down, one minute left. Once you give up, the game is over.
You're going to lose this one, Jon.
***