The day after

"Come in," Commander Scott Hayes said as he heard the door chime. He looked up from his table, nodding to the slightly-built, dark-haired woman who entered his office. The maintenance engineer seemed uncertain, her eyes even showing a slight trepidation as she came to a stop.

"Engineer Karim," he started genially. "Please, have a seat." He indicated the chair on the other side of the table.

As she nervously took the seat, Hayes smiled wanly. "I take it you have some idea on why I called you here?"

Her response was quick and agitated. "Commander, I assure you, I had nothing to do with what happened!" She gesticulated lively. "I didn't know they would try that!"

"Relax, Engineer, I believe you," he placated. "I already spoke with Lt Thalberg. She told me of the… operation to smuggle the blueprints. In case you were wondering, yes, it was a Corridor Nine project that the Captain and I weren't consulted for, and yes, they used the blueprints from Detroit which you gave them. In any case, you're lucky that apparently you weren't part of this beyond that. Otherwise… well. I think you get the idea where you might be now."

"Yes, sir. But… if I may ask, what happens now? I understand Lt Thalberg had to go with the Ur-Quan… but why did you call me? After all, the smuggling failed."

Hayes pursed his lips, looking sideways for a moment. "Yeah, about that…," he tapped a datapad that was lying on the table. Suddenly, a holographic image emerged above it, displaying the clear and very detailed light blue outline of a Star Control Cruiser.

Karim's eyes widened. "Sir… how…"

Hayes took a deep breath and leaned back. "What you are seeing are the very same blueprints that were carried by Warrant Officer Cabral. We have them." He splayed both hands, indicating the spinning image between himself and Karim. "As to how… well, Engineer, that is something that I would prefer to remain between us for the time being. Because the way we got this is… interesting to say the least." He waited for Karim to respond.

"Of course, sir. My lips are sealed."

"Good. So… have you heard what happened shortly after the events in the hangar? How I got a summons?"

"There's a rumor that you got a call from the Androsynth, sir. The one who killed Cabral and Captain Tarnovetsky, sir. That's what I heard, anyway."

"Well, that rumor is correct."

Karim blinked, mouth slightly open. "Wh—what did she want? Did you have any… problems? Sir?"

Hayes fidgeted. "No, actually, quite the contrary. She gave me a copy of the blueprints, and apologized for the execution." Seeing Karim's bewildered stare, he added, "Yes, I'm entirely serious, and from what I could tell, she was in fact sincere about it."

"Oh."

"Yep. Apparently, she volunteered to be the executioner in order to avoid having the Ilwrath do it instead. I need not tell you what that would've been like."

"No, sir," she shuddered. "But… what I don't get is, why? Why would an Androsynth do that for us? Don't they… hate us?"

"Well, apparently not all of them do. They may be clones, but they're not a hive mind. And this one seems to have regretted what she did down there, or at least that it was necessary… and even wanted to give us a fighting chance if we ever have to fight the Ur-Quan again. Seems that the Androsynth aren't exactly delighted to be their slaves, either. Small wonder."

"So… we have Cruiser blueprints."

"Yeah, and I've had them checked for any nasty surprises, just in case. Nothing, not that I expected there to be any, really." He took a sip from the mug to his right. "Still, we won't be inputting the blueprints into the base's databanks just yet. You never know when the Ur-Quan could scan the computers and find stuff that really has no business being there."

She nodded. "It makes sense. So, we're keeping it in storage for the right opportunity?"

"That's right. And it just so happens that I have an expert right here who'll know what to do with this when that time comes," he added cheerily.

"You can count on me, sir," Engineer Karim smiled.

"Oh, and Engineer…" Hayes leaned forward conspiratorily, "don't worry, we've already made copies, just in case." He winked.

Karim chuckled at that.

"Well, that's all. You're dismissed. And remember…" Commander Hayes held an index finger to his mouth.

"Of course, sir," Karim acknowledged as she stood up to leave.