There's another moment of silence while everybody takes it all in. Then, moving quickly, Reed grabs a gun from a nearby crewman, fires a shot back at Commander Tucker and disappears through the door.
"We have a new enemy, men." With one statement, the commander goes from upright target to hero. "While they may claim to be stronger than us, they may claim to be more experienced than us, I tell you this: They still will not take us. We have the advantage of numbers, and most of all, we have the advantage of brains[1]. Now, everybody re-arm. If we stay here, we're sitting ducks. We must also consider our fellow engineers innocently trapped out there in enemy territory. We need to rescue them, or at the very least make sure they're equipped to defend themselves. As for further tactics, I defer to experience in this area, and turn you over to Lieutenant Hess." "Thank you, Gen… er, Commander." It's only half sarcastic, well, maybe three-quarters. "Now I don't think I need to impress upon you the need for stealth at this time. They are out there, at this very moment, hiding among the non-combatants. What we do not need at this time is to attract the attention of senior officers, at least not those more senior than the commander." A wave of nods runs through Engineering at that suggestion. Getting Captain Archer (or worse yet, Sub-Commander T'Pol) involved at this stage would prove to be a problem.
"I believe I can assist you on that front, Lieutenant." The commander gets a calculating look in his eye, and I don't even want to speculate as to his plans. I can only hope that they don't involve getting us all arrested. Or him arrested, leaving me in charge. That was my worst fear, when I found out he and Lieutenant Reed were in life-threatening danger on board Shuttlepod One, that time: the fact that I might have to permanently take over this rabble. I am not the commanding officer type, I'm much better as an SIC.
"We will leave that in your capable hands, then, sir." If I don't know, I can't testify at the trial.
First, however, he proves he does have intelligence by gathering some. Enterprise is outfitted with hundreds of security cameras like the one the commander used to nab me. Any of these can be accessed from any desk console, provide you have the right password. Even if he wasn't entitled by virtue of his rank to have the code, trying to keep a password from Commander Tucker is like trying to imprison a fish by surrounding it with water. Sooner or later you'll figure out that it just ain't gonna work.
Lieutenant Reed must have really been moving, because he's already at the armoury. The commander tweaks a few controls and we have audio as well as visual.
"Get somebody duplicating those as soon as possible." He doesn't even slow down as he tosses the gun he seized to one of his men.
"What's going on, sir?" The crewman turns the gun over in his hands a few times, figuring out how it works. That's why he's not an engineer. At a time like this you ask what it does, then, duplicate the result. Most cases, it's way faster.
"The engineers have armed themselves with those things, and they aren't afraid to use them." Surprisingly he looks rather dignified and serious for a man with a blue face.
"What? All of them?" This from a crewmember more to the back of the room. He sounds appropriately aghast at the prospect.
"As far as I can tell, only the ones in main Engineering. However, we cannot assume the situation will remain that way." He sits down at his own desk, and taps a few controls, but Commander Tucker's fingers are faster, and our screen splits to show the security cam on half of it, and what Lieutenant Reed is trying to do with his console. He's getting ready to spy on us.
"Son of a bitch. I don't think so." Just as an image of main Engineering resolves on the lieutenant's console, it wavers then scrambles, and a squeal of feedback pours out of his speakers.
Reed says a few words that none of us thought he knew, and spins his chair around before getting up and covering half the room in a couple of paces. "Denning!"
"I swear, sir, I changed those codes just last week. No one except for you should be able to override those cameras like that." Denning sounds shocked. We, on the other hand, can't help laughing.
"And I swear that that man has no idea what a security protocol is." Not true. Commander Tucker knows exactly what a security protocol is; he just doesn't believe that they ever apply to him. Kind of like locks, alarms and KEEP OUT, AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY signs. "Well, I'll tell you this: we are not going to be beat by some gadget happy southern redneck with a Peter Pan complex."
"Hey. Watch it, buddy." Commander Tucker and I say it in unison; the description could apply to either one of us. If he wants a grudge match…
"I can give you a war if you want it, Malcolm." The commander echoes my thoughts, determination settling in on his features. This is not a good sign for anyone who has decided to take him on: when he's determined you can't stop the commander with a tranquilliser gun, fifty pound weights on his feet and a safe dropped on his head. Even Captain Archer knows enough to stand aside when Mr. Tucker gets that look on his face. Shit, Sub-commander T'Pol knows to back down when that look appears.
The mood shifts again. This was a game to alleviate boredom, but now pride is at stake. And no engineer is going to go down without a fight when that's what the wager is.
"Grenades." Rostov speaks up, in his usual cryptic manner. He can carry on a normal conversation, but when things become important, he tends to condense things down as much as possible.
I nod. "Sounds good, but we're going to need something a little more reliable, and a little sturdier than the plastic bags I used as a kid." The only problem with water-balloon type grenades is that they're hard to carry but easy to set off, and you're liable to end up getting yourself rather than the enemy.
"No problem. Binary compound triggers." Now that could work. Place a little capsule of something in the container, a couple of chemicals that create a gas when combined. Too much pressure and the container bursts. We'll get a wider spray pattern than with the standard splash, and it gives us an opportunity for delay triggering as well.
"What about supply lines?" Crewman Bitten steps forward, looking a little worse for wear. "We're not always going to be near M.E. converters to get our ammo."
"We'll use the maintenance shafts." Suddenly I'm glad that last week's feature was The Great Escape. "Work in teams, two escorts to each convoy. Be on constant lookout for ambush. Remember, we may have the advantage of numbers for now, but that only lasts if you stay alive.
"Communications." Rostov again.
"Our or theirs?" After a while you get used to it, learn which questions to ask.
"Both."
I glance at the commander. "As far as theirs go, how badly can we screw up the communications system without being noticed? Or do you just want to monitor them?"
He thinks for a moment. "Monitor only first, screw them up later if it becomes necessary. I don't want to give us away too much at this stage. Always hold something in abeyance for when you really get desperate." Now that it's become serious, he's thinking tactically. Despite the impressions of people like Lieutenant Reed and the Sub-commander, Commander Tucker is very good at tactics. You don't give up chess[2] because it's too easy and start playing Go instead if you're not a tactician. He's also murder as a poker opponent, simply for his ability to drive his adversary insane. "Now, Rostov, I want you and Hollis working on those grenades. Simpson? You're in charge of monitoring communications, I want all calls placed or received by any of the armoury personnel to be logged and recorded. Dennison and McCarthy will work with you." Simpson nods, and heads off to get started. "Now we're going to need more hand weapons, and some sort of defensive shielding. Dortman? That's your job. It'll have to be lightweight, portable, but capable of sheltering at least one person apiece. See what you can rig up. The rest of you will divide into teams. I want our smaller people to be running the supplies, mainly because you'll be able to manoeuvre in those maintenance shafts more easily. Dortman? I'll need you to get something together for them, too. The rest of you will form roving teams. Try to be as discreet as you can, but don't let your guard down. If you see an armoury officer, assume he's armed and involved. Take him out early."
Now is about the time, in the movies, where something stupid like 'leave him to me' is said. The heroic 'This is personal, so I'm handling it personally' type of comment. "And if you run into Malcolm, remember, he's just made this personal, so I want you to make sure that you get him good. You can hand him my compliments afterward, but I don't want him getting away. Is that clear?"
Clear? You just told a bunch of grunts they can have free shots at an officer and you're asking if they understand? That's not an order, that's a gift straight from the angels. You won't be able to tell Lieutenant Reed from his uniform by the time this day is over. As for me… as much as I admire and get along with Malcolm at most times, he just said some very nasty things about either me, or a close, personal friend of mine, and they hurt me very much. At this point I would be happy to paint him blue, and leave him in Commander Tucker's desk chair all tied up in a bright shiny ribbon. I'm not the vindictive type at all.
[1] Given this speech, I'd question that, but I didn't have the heart to interrupt him.
[2] Rumour has it he challenged Ambassador Soval to a game once, and beat him in twenty moves. This is (apparently) one of the reasons Soval hates him so much.#
#I would, too, come to think of it.