—Chapter 11—
"What do you mean you're a Syrranite?" said T'Pol once again.
They'd reconvened aboard the Columbia, Trip, T'Pol and T'Les, and they were joined now by Captain Hernandez.
"I mean exactly that, T'Pol," said T'Les.
"Why did you Syrranites bomb the embassy?" said Trip.
"We did no such thing," said T'Les. "That is Administrator V'Las's doing. He is moving pieces around a chess board, furthering his own objectives, while removing those opposed to his aims at the same time."
"So what are his objective, T'Les?" said Erika.
"His long term objectives I can only guess," said T'Les, "but given his public statements, and looking at the evidence he has presented, I believe it would be logical to deduce that he wants to start a war between Vulcan and Andoria on one front, while making the Syrranites the scapegoats for his public policy failures on the domestic front. By using the Syrranite 'threat' as an excuse, V'Las has brought new and stringent security measures into effect, measures which would have been considered unthinkable just days ago."
"And how do Syrranites stand in opposition to his objectives?" said T'Pol.
"By preaching that he follows, that we as a people follow, a corrupted form of Surak's teachings," said T'Les. "Look around you, daughter. We have a vast interstellar navy, and we use it quite freely against the Andorians, and against others occasionally. Is that truly Surak's way of peace?"
"Life's various events can make it difficult to maintain ideological purity, mother," said T'Pol.
"And do life's various events also require one to lie, and manufacture evidence?" said T'Les.
"What do you mean?" said T'Pol.
"I happen to know for a fact that T'Pau had been in the Forge for the past year or so," said T'Les, "yet the newsreels state that her DNA was found on the scene of the bombing. V'Las is trying to frame T'Pau, and the Syrranites, but this is only the start of it. Soon, Vulcan will be swimming in blood once more."
"You are exaggerating, mother," said T'Pol. "We have conducted operations against Andorians in the recent past, and Vulcan was not affected in the least."
"A Vulcan, Andorian, war might not be the sum of his goals, but rather only the beginning," said T'Les.
"So what now?" said Erika. "If T'Les is right, and the High Command is somehow mixed up in all this, she should apply for political asylum with our ambass—"
"I have no intention of seeking asylum," said T'Les.
"Then what, T'Les," said Trip.
The Vulcan was about to reply, when the Columbia's comm officer broke in from the Bridge, and said, "Captain, I have request for transport from the surface."
"Who is it?" said Captain Hernandez.
"Ambassador Soval, Captain," said Comm.
"Do it," said Erika, then when Comm logged off, she said, "Soval's presence and his words will tell us something. I'll meet him at the transport pad, take him to my Ready Room, sound him out. Don't leave this room while he's here."
Once Erika had left the room, Trip turned to T'Les and said, "If you're not interested in asylum, what are your plans, T'Les?"
"I intend to seek refuge in the Forge."
When Soval joined the three conspirators in their conference room, Erika in tow, their ongoing conversation ended in surprise, as this was not the plan.
"The ambassador figured out that you were here," said Erika.
"How?" said Trip.
"It is good to see you too, Captain Tucker," said Soval.
"Likewise, Ambassador," said Trip. "I apologize for my rudeness."
"Understandable under the circumstances, Captain," said Soval. "Anyway, I had heard that T'Pol was taking her leave on Vulcan, and I tried to contact her this morning in order to discuss StarFleet's progress in the bombing investigation. When I failed to reach her, even after repeated attempts, I tried to get in touch with T'Les, and when that failed, I dropped by the house. The front door was open, and a dispassionate search of the house did not yield any sign of foul play, but the subtle signs of disorder and a hasty departure made me uneasy."
"And how did you know we were here?" said Trip.
"I thought it likely that if T'Pol was in sort of trouble she might reach out to fellow StarFleet members for help," said Soval, "and as Columbia is the only Human vessel in the vicinity, I came to speak with Captain Hernandez and see if she had heard from you. She has many good attributes, I am certain, but Captain Hernandez is not very good at dissimulation. It was clear that the captain had knowledge of your whereabouts and I was able to persuade her of my good intentions. So tell me, what is going on with you all?"
Twenty minutes later, Soval was up to speed, and looked at Trip, and said, "And how did you come to be mixed up in all this, Captain Tucker? Why are you on Vulcan?"
Trip coughed and avoided Soval's eyes, while thinking desperately for an answer. T'Pol averted her eyes from Soval, suddenly finding something of interest in a corner of the room, and it was clear from the color visible in the tips of her ears that she was flushed. T'Les smiled, if a smile might be indicated by a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth. Erika looked at Trip, T'Pol and T'Les and smiled as well: that explained what Trip was doing on Vulcan, and it explained what Trip was doing at T'Les's house: she'd wondered over those facts, ever since taking Trip's call.
Soval took it all in, and said, "Oh, I see. You have made some interesting choices lately, T'Pol."
"You know, Ambassador," said Trip, put off with Soval now, "you should get yourself a turban, a crystal ball and a deck of Tarot cards. You could get rich as a prognosticator."
"Oh, I am no fortune teller, Captain Tucker," said Soval, radiating a slight smugness, "but a diplomat becomes proficient in picking up on the things that are not stated."
"Good for you," said Trip to Soval, then turned to T'Les. "Now that we're all up to speed, back to you. What is the Forge, T'Les, and why do you want to go there?"
"Vulcan's Forge is a vast desert canyon some three thousand mile long, and eighteen hundred miles wide," said T'Les, "and the conditions within the Forge are some of the harshest on Vulcan. Surak has associations with the Forge, and given its vast size, harsh environment, and the geomagnetic instabilities that exist there and which interfere with all forms of sensor and communications technology, the Forge is a refuge for us Syrranites, from the High Command."
"So you want us to beam you into the Forge?" said Captain Hernandez, looking at T'Les.
"Transporters will not work within the Forge," said Soval. "More so, you have also left a trail from the scene of T'Les's rescue, which will be easy to verify."
"How?" said Trip.
"Soval is right," said T'Pol. "Vulcan has a net of surveillance satellites which monitor transporter beam-ins, and beam-outs, among other things. This was not a problem when we thought that my mother was kidnapped by criminals, but if the High Command is truly involved…"
Soval nodded, and T'Pol continued speaking.
"We left a trail of Human lifesign beam-ins to the site of my mother's rescue when the MACOs beamed in. Then two more lifesign beam-ins, mine and Captain Tucker's. Then two Vulcan lifesigns beam-out to the Columbia, followed by six Human lifesigns."
"That's easy enough to explain," said Trip. "T'Les was kidnapped, but she managed to get a hold of a comm unit from one of her kidnappers. T'Les called T'Pol, who contacted the Columbia, who sent a team of MACOs to that last location, then beamed T'Pol and Captain Hernandez to that location, as Captain Hernandez was spending the night with T'Pol and her mother. They did not find T'Les so they all transported back to the Columbia, to discuss the matter."
"You're are forgetting the two lifesigns being transported to the Columbia," said T'Pol.
"No, I'm not," said Trip. "You contacted Ambassador Soval for his advice. He came that location to speak with you and Captain Hernandez. He was the second lifesign. Unless, he was somewhere public last night…"
"I was at home all of last night," said Soval, "and no one could say otherwise. That is to say, it was all as Commander Tucker just described."
"But if a Vulcan cruiser scans the Columbia it will be apparent that there are three Vulcans aboard, so they'll know we're hiding T'Les," said Erika. "We'll have to sneak her down to the planet in a shuttle before we are scanned. Assuming we have not been scanned yet."
"There is no need for that," said T'Pol. "The surveillance nets which Soval speaks of exist, but no surveillance net is perfect. There are holes in the net, and for a brief time, one may beam on or off planet without notice. The satellites have fixed trajectories, and their limitations are well known to me. Give me a precise location for the satellites with a sensor telemetry reading and I can calculate the location and duration of the next hole in the net."
T'Les looked at her daughter with new eyes. She'd never seen T'Pol at work in her element, and T'Les was proud of her daughter's competence.
"Let's go to the Bridge, T'Pol," said Erika, "and get you that data."