Dana blinked in apparent wonder. “Now, you’re being inconsistent. First, you said that Ludendorff helped us, which he most certainly did. Then you call him a liar. I’d like to know which side of him you really believe.”
Maddox smiled. “Why, I believe both sides, Doctor, which is why I have the dilemma. If I awaken Ludendorff, I’m certain he’ll attempt trickery against us in order to regain control of the starship. But I don’t know which way Galyan will go. That makes it a gamble. I don’t think it’s a gamble with Ludendorff, as we know he’ll try to take over.”
“So despite his help with the disruptor cannon,” Dana said, “you distrust the professor.”
“I believe Ludendorff has consistently lied to us. He also let Villars loose, the blackest of black marks against the professor’s judgment. Ultimately, despite his help with the cannon, I distrust the man more than I distrust the AI.”
“Thank you for making that plain,” Dana said, stiffly. “I, too, will make my position plain. I’m on the opposite side of the fence as you.”
“What about the rest of you?” Maddox asked. “Where do you stand?” He looked to his left at Keith. “Let’s start with you, Second Lieutenant.”
The ace ran his fingers through his hair. “Giving us the cannon was huge. Letting Per Lomax go…” Keith shook his head. “I have to agree with the captain. Roll the dice with the unknown before you let the bastard who screwed us loose again.”
“Galyan has also screwed us, as you so delicately put it,” Dana said.
Keith shrugged. “I’m giving you my ideas, Doctor. You don’t have to like them. Just accept they’re mine.”
Dana scowled.
“Lieutenant?” asked Maddox.
During the discussion, Valerie had been making notations on a tablet. She now studied the tablet, frowning. “Ludendorff is a known quantity. We have to watch him around the clock, and he’s human. Taking the professor down again would be easier than defeating Galyan if the AI turns against us. I don’t trust an alien computer system. I say we wake the professor like the doctor suggests.”
“I’m with the captain,” Riker said bluntly.
“You know my views,” Dana said. “Wake the human over trusting Adok technology. For all we know, Ludendorff saved our lives by keeping those systems offline. Trusting Galyan with something Ludendorff shut down, I think that’s madness.” She turned to Meta.
Meta pursed her lips thoughtfully before smiling at Dana. The Rouen Colony woman patted the doctor’s left hand. “I understand your thinking, and I agree with it to a large degree. I keep thinking about Villars, though.” Meta shook her head. “Because of Villars, I don’t trust Ludendorff anymore. The professor strikes me as unbalanced. I’m sorry to say that, Dana.”
The doctor nodded stiffly.
Meta exhaled, looking at Maddox. “I trust you, Captain. I say go with your instincts. They’ve been good so far.”
“Two of us are strongly opposed to tampering with Galyan,” Dana told Maddox. “If you won’t wake Ludendorff, at least keep the AI at its present level. Upgrading its intelligence or power could be disastrous for us. At least we have the starship now. Don’t lose us the unique vessel at this critical time.”
“Your concern is noted,” Maddox said. “Are you willing to help us reenergize the offline systems?”
Dana frowned, finally shaking her head. “I can’t do that in good conscience.”
“What if your decision dooms Earth?” Maddox asked.
“What if your decision does?” Dana countered.
“No,” Meta said, grabbing the doctor’s nearest hand. “We need you with us. We’re a team, remember?” Meta glanced at Valerie. “After all we’ve been through together, we’re a family.”
The lieutenant nodded in agreement.
Dana’s frown deepened.
Meta’s grip strengthened. “I know you love the professor. I sympathize with you loving such an arrogant man. It can be maddening at times, I know. But deep in your heart you know the professor has hidden goals. I remember on Loki Prime when you said…”
Dana looked up with a stricken look.
“I won’t say any more about that,” Meta said.
“Thank you,” Dana said in a soft voice.
“But we still need your help,” Meta said.
Gently, the doctor withdrew her hand from Meta’s hold. She studied the tabletop as if that could provide the answer. The doctor shook her head.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Dana said softly. “But yes, I’ll help. Not because of you,” Dana told Maddox. “But because…” She glanced at Meta. “But because I’m part of the team.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Maddox said. “I appreciate your decision.”
Dana stared him in the eyes. “I hope you remember this the next time we all believe something contrary to what you wish.”
Maddox nodded sharply, not caring for the idea. He would cross that bridge when the time came. “Let’s decide how we’re going to do this,” the captain said. “Afterward, we’ll take the plunge.”
-24-
Dana scratched the back of her head. She lay on her stomach in a narrow computing access tube. Behind her, Meta dragged a carton of the professor’s most delicate tools.
The analytical devices and instruments in the carton were incredibly complex and advanced. Dana understood some of their functions because of her time with the professor. Galyan had found the carton hidden in a secret stash between Ludendorff’s chamber and the main hangar bay. In spite of the find, they still hadn’t discovered any long-distance communication device.
As Dana crawled through the tube, she tested key computer connections and tried to decipher some of the offline systems’ functions. Before this, she’d had over a year of training in Adok technology, including the original voyage aboard Victory and later in the Oort cloud with Star Watch help. Working with the professor during the second voyage on Victory had taught her even more.
I could spend a lifetime doing this and still not know everything about the alien technology.
It was funny. Her years at Brahma Tech and then her tutelage under the professor in alien archeology had seemingly prepared her for this moment. Her years working with Ludendorff later in space had added to the foundation. Dana doubted anyone else in the Commonwealth could do what she was doing now.
That brought a bitter smile to Dana’s face as she examined a connection. The others needed her to do the very thing she’d tried to vote down.
Without me, I doubt Meta could simply “turn on” this part of the computing core. What if Galyan traps us again? What if he kills some of us this time? Will I be responsible for that? Or can I say that I was just following orders?
A beep sounded from her stress board. That was odd. Dana checked the computing connections. There was no problem there. Hmm, maybe it was the photon line. But why should that be?
“Meta?” the doctor asked.
“Yes?” Meta said from behind her in the tube.
“Could you hand me the little blue box, please, the one with an expanding antenna?”
“Just a minute,” Meta said. She rummaged in the carton and soon held up a blue device a little larger than her hand. “Is this it?”
Dana looked back. “Yes, but be careful, please. It’s delicate.”
“Oh. Yes, Doctor.” With exaggerated care, Meta handed it up.
Dana accepted the device, knowing it was a one-of-a-kind. The professor had made it, of course. Likely, the little blue box contained technologies Commonwealth scientists hadn’t even invented yet. That was something Dana hadn’t told the others.
The professor often invented tech those in Human Space still strove to understand. What did that say about Ludendorff? He was much more complicated and mysterious than anyone else knew.