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"Code of Honor"
Rating: PG-13 Anyway, the politics get more complicated, and things are going to come quickly to a head in the next few chapters regarding the Boomers, Nandjani Corporation and Altair. And no, I haven’t forgotten about Paul and Philippe...you’ll find out later what they’ve been up to all this time, and it ain’t what you expect. Ten Malcolm focused his attention on reconstructing the Nandjani Corporation files, working side by side with Stuart, Hoshi and Travis. Ravi and Captain Archer returned to Aldeberan, where Ravi launched his own investigation into his great-uncle’s Ruling Council. The shake-up sent waves into the Consortiums and the Boomer community as the full extent of the covert take-over became known. Oneko kept a constant vigil by Malcolm’s side. He found that he could only devote a few hours at a time to his investigation before he overtired himself. If Phlox and Stuart couldn’t convince him to rest, then Hoshi and Oneko took matters into their own hands. Despite his protests, Oneko made it a point to stretch herself on his chest and purr as loud as she could as Hoshi firmly locked away his PADDs and deactivated his computer. Oneko’s purrs weakened his resolve and lulled him into a calming sleep. “My life is ruled by females,” he muttered under his breath as he eased into slumber. Hoshi laughed and said, “And don’t you ever forget it, Malcolm.” Occasionally, he woke up in a sweat, heart pounding from yet another drug-induced nightmare. Hoshi was ever at his side and Oneko purred comfort, and the two always kept the darkness at bay. Once or twice, he vaguely remembered his father there, and Trip or Jon Archer, but Hoshi’s soothing voice and Oneko’s meows and purrs were his links to sanity. As he drifted between twilight and waking consciousness, he distinctly heard Hoshi and Phlox talking in low tones. The words took forever to make sense, but eventually, he understood them. “The side effects are lessening, Hoshi, but I want to keep an eye on him. I think another round of blood cleansing should remove the physical traces of the mertracel-blue.” “I hear a ‘but’ coming, Doctor.” “Even though the drug might be absorbed or erased, I’m concerned about the psychological effects of it. As Lieutenant Mayweather has indicated, this compound is highly addictive, but it becomes toxic very quickly. Your husband may show symptoms of withdrawal that may be prolonged because of the purity of the drug they gave him.” “How long is ‘prolonged’, Phlox? Days, weeks, months? Years?” “It’s difficult to say. Most victims in similar situations don’t survive the first twenty-four hours...Malcolm has done so, so his prognosis is promising. We need to watch him carefully for withdrawal...possible seizures, delusions, elevated blood pressure and heart rate, migraines, memory loss...” “Oh my God.” Hoshi sounded stunned and weary. “And you can’t say just how long?” “Unfortunately, no. Eighty-five percent of mertracel-blue users die within three years, but those are regular users with mertracel-blue derivatives. Your husband’s situation is unique, Hoshi. He may recover completely, since he was in excellent physical and mental shape before the ‘accident’ and also,” here Phlox’s voice smiled, “he has a strong support system in family and friends aboard Enterprise. Don’t underestimate that, because it’s scientifically proven that emotional support contributes to the recovery of illness. And I have one last suggestion, Hoshi.” “Yes?” She sounded more hopeful than before. “It is my observation that Malcolm must feel that he is contributing to the mission at hand, that he languishes in idleness—“ Hoshi chuckled and said, “That’s an understatement, Phlox.” “—so I’ve recommended to Captain Archer that he remain active with the Consortium investigation, as long as he doesn’t overextend himself beyond his limits. The captain does not want to ‘nursemaid’ him, but he has every confidence in yours—and your, ah, avatar’s—ability to watch over him. And Ensign Mueller has told the captain that he can handle Armory duties until Malcolm can return.” “Avatar? I’ve never heard of anyone refer to Oneko that way, but I suppose she is.” “I can’t stress vigilance on your husband enough, Hoshi. Taxing his endurance will prolong the recovery process, or at worst, shorten his lifespan. I, for one, am rather fond of your husband, even if he isn’t fond of Sickbay.” She laughed, the sound echoing off the walls like a bell. “After nearly seven years, can you blame him? All right, I’ll do my best to make sure Malcolm doesn’t overdo it.” “Thank you, Hoshi.” At that point, another wave of darkness came over Malcolm and he didn’t hear her reply. After several cycles of wakefulness and exhausted sleep, he woke up in the middle of the ship’s night, feeling quite rested. Phlox’s menagerie stirred at the other side of Sickbay, but their noises were less annoying and more...soothing. He winced; yes, he’d spent too much time here in the past seven years. But he knew the noise hadn’t woken him up, not at first. He frowned, trying to remember just what had. Then, he remembered. He carefully sat up on the biobed, then pulled the bedside computer over to him and accessed the Aldeberan database. What was it? A cultural detail? Technology? Then he found it. “Nandjani Corporation employs forty percent of the Boomer fleet in lucrative contracts, compared to EdML’s twenty five percent, Altair’s ten percent, and Vega’s three percent. That was three years ago. And now...” Malcolm consulted a current statistical report and murmured to himself, “..those numbers are nearly reversed. Vega’s assumed some of those contacts, and Altair’s slowly catching up.” The mass migration to Tanaka Enterprises had quickened after Paul Mayweather had accepted employment with Tanaka. It appeared that many of the Boomer businesses had simply followed the Mayweathers’s lead. Then after Tanaka had been arrested, many of those Boomers had jumped ship again, this time to Altair. A loyal core of followers had followed Paul to EdML, but those numbers were pitifully few, compared to the first move. A definite change in attitude. Perhaps Paul’s influence on the Boomers was waning at that point. Then it becomes...who is the one forcing Paul out and assuming his position as their representative? He saw some handwritten notes in this particular file and recognized Travis’s handwriting. Travis had written “Capt. Thea Brunswicke, Lysander, currently with Altarian Consortium. Current whereabouts: Unknown.” Malcolm brought up Brunswicke’s biography. Her family had been interstellar traders since shortly after Zefram Cochrane’s historic warp flight. Brunswicke herself had been born and raised on the Lysander and trained under the watchful eye of her father, James Brunswicke, and of Thomas Mayweather, Travis’s grandfather. She’s actually served on the original Horizon for nearly a year, alongside Travis and Paul. So she was a close friend of the Mayweathers. Sometimes your enemy is the one closest to you, Malcolm thought grimly. In Paul’s absence, Thea had been handling most of the negotiations between the Boomers and the Consortiums. The Boomers had made great strides in gaining concessions from Starfleet, and so were becoming a powerful block in Colonial—and interstellar—politics. Malcolm sighed and touched the intercom. “Reed to Mayweather.” Travis’s reply was immediate. “Mayweather.” “Travis, I’m sorry if I’ve woken you up—“ “I wasn’t asleep, Malcolm. I was in Astrometrics, tracing Boomer ship movements.” That was the perfect opening. “The Lysander?” “I think I’m close to locating her. It seems that Thea’s been dealing with other suppliers on the side in addition to her legitimate business. You up for a visitor? I’d like to hear your opinion on some things I’ve found out.” The young man can be a mind reader, Malcolm mused. Aloud he said, “Come on down, Travis. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on some information I have as well.” “Be there in five minutes. Mayweather, out.” Malcolm thumbed off the comm and brought his attention back to the woman on the screen. Thea Brunswicke’s smirk seemed directed at him, with the challenge: Come and get me. Travis folded his long, lanky frame into the chair as he listened to Malcolm’s information. He nodded grimly and said, “Kinda reminds me of Brutus to Julius Caesar. ‘E tu, Brute?’ She’s so close to our family that I doubt Paul even suspected her.” “Your mother?” Travis winced. “She’s having a hard time of it, too, but once I found this, even Mom had to admit Thea’s been double-crossing us all along.” He pointed at the information on his PADD. “Ravi’s been pretty open with me and your father concerning the manifest lists of his ships. Check out the highlighted entries.” Malcolm felt his expression harden as he scrolled down the list. Ra’s Beam shuttled chemical components from Aldeberan to Vega. Lucky Number Seven and her sister ship, Lucky Eleven, made several food runs to the Orion Homeworld, and received rich compensation in return. Lander’s End traded used shuttle parts and technological hand-me-downs for medical supplies. The list went on and on, and each highlighted entry was one more profitable turn for Nandjani Corporation...but each freighter captain also funneled a part of the profits to Asagawa Incorporated to repay various loans and “favors”. “It looks like Asagawa’s taken up where Sumiko Tanaka left off,” Malcolm commented. “Yeah. And without Paul in the way, the Boomers are taking on more and more questionable cargo in their holds. The more profitable captains have the money to spend on bribes, kickbacks—“ “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” “Yeah.” Travis ran a hand over his tired hand, and his distress seeped from every pore of his body. “Makes me almost ashamed to be one of ‘em. We’ve got to do something, Malcolm.” “Can we count on Ravi’s cooperation?” Travis smiled. “Oh, definitely. He’s planning on hauling his shipping managers on the carpet. Turns out he’s going to have to shake up his entire consortium to weed out the ones who’re still in his great-uncle’s pocket. In the meantime, he’s given us permission to use his information to pursue our investigation.” “Ravi’s a good man.” Malcolm straightened up even further. “Now, can we get any of the Boomers to talk to us?” Travis’s smile widened, and he almost looked like the Travis of old. “Sandosh’s bringing Lady Ameratsu and Schwarzwald to a rendezvous with Enterprise. I know both captains; right now, they’re Philippe’s people and they don’t intend on leaving EdML anytime soon. If anything, Captain Chao and Captain Hausberg can tell us just how we can approach the other Boomers without having the entire situation blow up in our face. We’ll need their help to get Paul and Philippe back.” Malcolm nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan to me, Travis. We’ll get your brother and Philippe back.” “I hope so,” Travis replied, his smile falling off a little, “because if we don’t, there’ll be no one to stop Asagawa and the other consortiums.” |
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