Gardens in the Rain, chapter 5
Deftly flipping a series of switches, Uhura kicked off the morning diagnostics and reached for her coffee. She wasn't due on the Enterprise for another fifteen minutes—just enough time to take care of a few routine chores. She sat back in her chair and peered over the top of her cup as the night's transmissions scrolled across her screen.
The bridge was almost empty. It was too early for the majority of the alpha shift, and when she had left Ames and Lenox in the mess hall, they had said that they were going straight over to the Enterprise after breakfast. This stillness was fine with her, however. She'd always enjoyed this quiet time of day, and heaven only knew that her normal routine had been disrupted recently.
She thought back over her conversation with Spock last night. Why in the universe did he think he needed to cloak himself in Vulcan ritual all of a sudden? He was as bad as a turtle in a shell sometimes. He might stick his neck out, but too much threat to his equilibrium and he'd pull his head back and hide. Why was he so afraid to admit that he needed more than the flame? Even though in the end their evening had been nice, he had never really come back out of that shell. Maybe tonight she would put on some soft music, lower the lights, wear something revealing...
Frowning, she lowered her coffee.
"Computer. Pause display. Reverse three seconds and halt."
She put down the cup and looked closer, then ran her hands across the board.
"Computer. Isolate low-frequency band two. Enhance."
She held her breath as she studied the readout. There it was. Juggling several different decryption routines simultaneously, her eyes grew big as the results appeared on the display. Finally, she inserted a data wafer, toggled another switch, and ejected the wafer. Picking up the wafer and her padd, she stood.
She had to find Captain Ames.
...
"Admiral! Mr. Spock! Wait!"
Kirk turned around to see Uhura jogging down the corridor in his direction, a padd in her hand. Her expression was serious, and he knew immediately that something was wrong.
Watching as she stopped in front of him, he said, "What is it?"
"I don't think that we should discuss it here."
He exchanged a quick glance with Spock. "Ames and Lenox are both waiting in the conference room. Let's go there, and you can explain it to all of us."
"No, sir." She shook her head firmly. "Not the conference room. As a matter of fact, I tried to catch Captain Ames before he left the Lexington, but now that he's in the conference room, I don't think we should even go get him. Is there someplace else we can talk?"
Spock gestured toward the end of the corridor. "Nothing is scheduled for the science lab's isolation room this morning."
Kirk nodded. "All right. Lead the way."
They walked in silence until the door closed behind them, then Kirk faced Uhura and said, "Report."
She turned on her padd. "This morning, I was running routine diagnostics when I found what looked like interstellar noise. It was too brief, though, so I figured that it had to be a message."
Spock moved closer. "That is a low-frequency band."
"Yes. That's why it first caught my attention. Transmitting on a frequency this low is so impractical that no one does it anymore. It's slow as molasses, and the possibility of noise corrupting the message makes it too complicated to be worth the trouble. Because no one uses this frequency, no one monitors it either. It was just luck that I noticed it."
Studying the readout, Spock murmured, "It was not luck, Commander, but your exceptional abilities that brought this to our attention." She glanced up, obviously pleased, but he continued. "Have you deciphered the message?"
"Yes. It was actually easy, because the Klingons don't know that we broke this code."
Scowling, Kirk said, "The Klingons?"
She nodded. "And you won't believe what the message says."
"Let's have it."
"'Enterprise and Lexington aware of importance of Epsilon Triana and en route to investigate.'"
Kirk blinked twice, then looked over at Spock to see that his friend's expression was also one of disbelief. Running his hand across his mouth, Kirk muttered, "They know what we're doing. How could that be?"
"The answer is obvious," said Spock. "We have a 'leak.'"
"Yes, I know. But how?"
"Officially, there are only five people who have access to this information," Spock said. "The three of us, Lenox, and Ames. Is it possible that Lenox or Ames—"
Uhura shook her head emphatically. "I've served with Commander Lenox and Captain Ames for nearly a year now, and I trust them completely. I refuse to believe that either of them is responsible for this."
"Very well," said Spock. "We will eliminate that as a potential theory. Another possibility is that the conference room is not secure."
Kirk regarded Spock for a moment. Speaking slowly, he said, "We also have to consider that there might be a listening device in someone's quarters. Or maybe even a video recorder."
Their eyes widening, Spock and Uhura looked quickly at each other. If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, Kirk might have been amused at their identical expressions of horror. And the thought was appalling—someone eavesdropping on your most private moments.
Trying his best to be tactful, Kirk said, "I hate to ask this, but, er, have the two of you discussed the mission in your quarters?"
Uhura shook her head. "I don't think so. I can't—"
His expression unreadable, Spock interrupted. "Yes. We have."
"We have? When?"
Spock glanced briefly at Kirk before facing her again. Obviously uncomfortable, he said, "Yesterday morning, very early. You were not entirely awake so evidently do not remember, but you asked me what the day might hold. I replied that I planned to review surveillance logs until we were in range of Epsilon Triana, at which time we would begin scanning."
She covered her eyes. "Oh my God."
"Indeed."
Kirk began to pace. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. Someone could be tapping into the computer, or maybe listening in on me when I record my logs. It could be someone currently on board, or someone no longer on board, or any combination of the above. There are any number of possibilities. Do you know where it originated?"
Uhura shook her head. "I can only tell you where it did not originate. It did not originate here, and it did not originate on the Lexington."
"So someone sent that information to someone else, who then passed it on."
"That's what it looks like."
They were all quiet for several moments as Kirk continued to pace. Finally, he stopped. "Let's use this to our advantage."
"How?" Uhura asked.
"We'll feed misinformation to the Klingons."
Smiling for the first time, she said, "Yes! That's an excellent idea. We can pretend that we don't know, and in the meantime we'll be searching for the leak."
Kirk chuckled, and both Spock and Uhura turned toward him. "I have to point out," he said apologetically, "that if we really want to avoid arousing suspicion, you two are going to have to continue to, uh, spend time in each other's quarters."
Uhura met Spock's eyes and grimaced, but neither of them commented.
Kirk continued. "For now, we'll go ahead and meet with Ames and Lenox. We'll make it brief—basically no change, all systems go. I'll walk them to the transporter room and explain at that time. Spock, clear the schedule for this room, and we'll meet back here at 0900 hours."
Spock and Uhura nodded, so the three of them walked out the door and headed toward the conference room.
...
Walking through the corridor, Uhura leaned close to Spock and whispered, "I don't like this, Spock. It's going to be awful."
"I am not pleased either, but the charade is necessary. If the surveillance device truly is in your quarters, we must convince our eavesdropper that we looked no further than Epsilon Triana and that our scans were fruitless. Such a statement would not be far from the truth."
"I don't have any problem with that part of it, but it's going to be hard to sound convincing when I talk about my transfer to the Enterprise. I mean, something like that is going to come entirely out of the blue! How can I make it sound believable without giving away that I'm just coming over to monitor communications?"
"Perhaps I could comment on the fact that several people have been less than satisfied with your replacement."
She grinned. "I can't believe that you're coaching me on how to lie convincingly."
"It is not a lie."
"What? I thought that Feinstein was doing all right."
"His work is adequate. His critics cannot help but compare him to you, however, and he fares poorly in such a contest."
"That's the second nice thing you've said about my work today. Thank you."
"Thanks are not necessary. You know that I have always greatly respected your abilities. Admiral Kirk does, as well. That is why he suggested that you remain with the Enterprise."
"I still appreciate it." She grew quiet as they turned a corner, but no one was there. "It's strange to think that by this time tomorrow I'll be back on the Enterprise and settling into my new quarters. I'm actually excited about the idea, even though it's only temporary."
"Your friends will be quite excited as well, and disappointed when they eventually learn the truth."
"Yes, I know. I'm not too crazy about deceiving them, but I'm sure they'll understand."
"They will. By the way, I was impressed with Captain Ames' ingenuity earlier. I must confess that I allowed his 'colorful' personality to bias my perception of him, but his idea was excellent."
"Wasn't it, though? When the Lexington leaves tomorrow, it'll look just like the Enterprise is taking over a routine patrol."
"You will face yet another challenge when we attempt to maintain contact without arousing suspicion."
"I have a few ideas about how to do that." Her step slowed as they approached her quarters. "Well, here we are.
"Yes. Here we are."
Glancing up at him once more, she took a deep breath and walked through the door. Her quarters had always seemed safe and cozy, a refuge from the stress and strains of everyday life, but now they just seemed menacing. Was someone listening? Watching? She had to make a conscious effort not to look in every corner for the hateful device that had violated her sanctuary.
Trying to keep her voice casual, she said, "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes. Thank you."
She had to fight the sudden nervous impulse to laugh at the stiffness in Spock's voice. She didn't dare look at him—she just knew that he was all but standing at attention. Poor Spock. She might be upset by the idea that someone could have been watching them, but that was probably nothing compared to his reaction. She picked up the two cups of tea and turned toward him.
"Let's sit down."
As they settled themselves on the cushions, she smiled and touched him lightly on the arm. If they had to put on an act, they might as well get on with it. Without wasting another moment, she launched into a description of her delight at her new assignment.
...
Reminding himself that the body was only the body, Spock removed his jacket and arranged it neatly on the back of a chair. If someone was observing them, they had seen much more than this previously. He pulled his shirt off over his head and folded it, then sat on the edge of the bed and removed his boots.
When he stood and reached for the front of his pants, he looked over and met Nyota's eyes. Humiliation had caused her to press her lips into a tense line, but she did not hesitate. Unfastening her bra, she threw it onto a chair and bent to push down her underpants, and suddenly he understood that the knot in his stomach was caused by anger. He watched her slip under the covers and pull them over her shoulders, and he had to swallow past the frightening urge to find this person and forcefully stop their voyeuristic intrusion, not for the sake of the mission but to win back her easy confidence, and to erase the shame that tightened her smooth features.
Quickly removing the rest of his clothing, he joined her in the bed. She rolled over and pressed her hands against his face. Her touch felt like ice.
Smiling forcibly, she said, "I'm really tired tonight. I think I'd like to just go on to sleep. After all, we'll have plenty of time together once I'm on the Enterprise."
"That is satisfactory. Good night, Nyota."
"Good night."
She kissed him quickly, then turned over and tugged on the covers until they almost covered her head. He watched her for a long moment, then rolled onto his back and closed his eyes. It was merely a continuation of their act, however, for he knew that he would not sleep much tonight.
End chapter 5