Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven

Dahl was walking toward Duval's dorm. "Trust me, Andy," Finn said after him, "she doesn't want to talk to you right now." "Not necessarily," Dahl said. "I know," Finn said. "Really?" Darl asked, "How do you know?" "I saw her when she came back from her presentation and she said to me, 'If I ever see Andy, I swear I'm going to punch him on the bridge of the nose,'" Finn said.Dahl smiled. The two arrived at Duval's dormitory and walked in.Duvall was sitting alone on her bed, and the room was otherwise empty.

"Maya." Dahl said. "Andy," Duvall said, standing up and punching him in the face.Dahl staggered and fell to the ground, clutching his nose. "I warned you," Finn said, leaning over.He turned to Duvall. "I actually already told him." "I thought you were joking." Dahl still didn't stand up. "Surprise," Finn said. Dahl took his hand away from his face to see if it was bleeding.No. "Why did you hit me?" he asked Duvall. "For your conspiracy theory," Duvall replied. "It's not my theory," Dahl said. "Jenkins'."

"Come on, it doesn't matter who came up with this bullshit theory!" Duvall snapped, "I was at that damn meeting today, and I kept telling everything I knew about the Nantes, and I told you all about it. Thinking, 'This is where I'm going to die.' And I looked at Kerensky and he was staring at me like we were married and not just friends with benefits. And then I knew I was gonna Shit, that bitch is obsessed with me, and it would be perfect for me to die, so he can have a good time at the end of this episode." "Maya, it doesn't have to be like this." Dahl said, trying to stand up.Duvall pushed him to the floor again.

"Shut up! Andy!" she said, "Shut up and listen. You're still missing the point. The point isn't whether things will go this way, but now even I'm being affected by your paranoia. I think about it when I'm out on the field. I think about it all the time. It's like sitting around waiting to die. You're the one who fucked me up. Thank you so much You." She sat down on her bed and spat hard. "I'm sorry." Dahl said after a long silence. "Sorry," Duvall repeated the word, then smiled slightly, "Christ, Andy." "Did something happen while reporting to the chief?" Finn asked.

"I briefed them about the Nantes and the crew," Duval said. "Maybe a traitor or spies got on board the Nantes. Someone was able to hack into the weapon system and open fire on the Bishop's ship, cutting off communications. channel. We have heard absolutely nothing from the Nantes since the attack." "Why did they put spies on the Nantes?" Finn asked, "The Dreadnought should have been the escort." "They must have known that the Nantes was the backup ship for this operation," Duvall said, "and that it would be easier to put an undercover agent on the Nantes than on the Yulian flagship. So they sent a ship to attack Us, let us lose maneuver, so that the Nantes will take on the mission of escort. Of course, there are other doubts—” Duval pointed to Dahl and said, “When I learned about this in the report meeting, I kept thinking about it. 'How far in advance do we have to plant the spies? How did they know that the Nantes was only appointed as a reserve ship for the mission a few days ago? Is this possible?' And I was thinking, 'The script for this episode has to be reworked.'" She looked down at Dahl, "I made up my mind then that if I ever run into you again, I'm going to punch you."

"Jenkins also said he didn't think the show was that good," Dahl said. Duvall raised her arm again. "Are you itching again, Andy?" "Will there be a field team for this incident?" Finn asked. "Yes," Duval said, "I was one of them. The Nantes did not communicate with us and did not move, so the Intrepid was ordered to investigate the situation of the Nantes and prevent further damage to the main ship. I served on the Nantes and was in the Marine Corps so I became a guide for the field team. Now I have the potential to kill the team all thanks to Andy I believe If I flick between the eyebrows, it must have excellent dramatic expression."

"When will we arrive?" Finn asked. "Two more hours," Duvall said. "What's the matter?" Finn dug into his pocket and took out an oval blue pill: "Take it, swallow it." Duval stared at the pill: "What is this?" "This is a mood-regulator made from Olympus grass," Finn said. "It's mild." "I don't want mood regulators," Duvall said. "Just let me punch Andy again." "You can do both," Finn said. "Trust me, Maya, you're getting a little hotheaded now, you know. And then you're going to put the whole team in danger, as you say."

"Swallow this medicine and you'll be fine?" Duvall said. "That's not what it means," Finn said. "As I said, it's so gentle that you barely notice the effect. You just notice that you seem less emotionally tense. Just enough to keep your focus on On the job and not on the mental state. Other than that it won't make a difference, you're still razor-sharp." He brought the pill closer. Duvall stared at the pill again. "There's a thread on it." Finn brushed off the thread: "Take it." "Okay," Duvall said, taking the pills. "But if I start seeing talking lizards, I'll beat you up."

"Of course," Finn said, "do you want me to get you some water?" "No," Duval said, swallowing the medicine dry, and then she leaned over and slapped Dahl loudly. "What are you doing?" Darl asked. "Finn said I could swallow the pill and beat you at the same time," Duvall said, then frowned.She looked up at Finn. "What's this thing made of?" "Olympus grass," Finn said. "And it's mild?" Duvall said. "Usually yes," Finn replied. "What I want to tell you is that I suddenly had a very strong reaction." Duval said, limp off the bed.Dahl caught her before she fell to the floor.

"What did you do?" Dahl asked Finn, struggling to support the unconscious Duvall. "Obviously, I put her down," Finn said, coming to Dahl's aid. "Didn't you just say that the effect of the medicine is very mild?" Dahl said. "I lied," Finn said, lifting Duvall's leg.The two carried her back to the bed. "How long will she be comatose?" Dahl asked. "Heavy old men get eight hours' sleep," Finn said, "so she's going to lie down for ten hours at least." "She'll miss the field mission," Dahl said.

"Of course. That's the purpose." Then he bowed his head and nodded in Duval's direction, "Andy, your TV drama theory has already made Duval and our other partners delirious. If you still want to stay here If you go down this road, go ahead, I'm not going to stop you. But I want the rest of them to see a counterexample." "So you drugged Maya?" Dahl said. "The process of getting there is not important," Finn said. "The purpose is to prove that even without Maya to lead the team, they will reach the Nantes to carry out their mission. Even if Jenkins' 'plot' wants to intervene, the world will It's working. If Maya, Jimmy, and Hester realize it, maybe they won't be paranoid anymore. Who knows? Maybe even you will be back to normal." Dahl nodded towards Duval: "If she misses the field mission, she will suffer later." He said, "She will be charged by a court-martial. I'm not sure she will like this kind of thing." Finn smiled. "You really think I didn't plan for this, which is very satisfying to me." "Then how do you plan to deal with the aftermath?" Dahl said. "You'll know," Finn said. "You're on board."
"Where are the Mayans?" Kerensky asked. "Who?" Finn asked innocently. "Duval." Kerensky looked anxious, "She should also be in this field team." "Oh, it's her," Finn said. "She's got Olympus edema. Been in a coma for days. That's why Dale and I came here to replace her. You can check your mission briefing, sir." Kerensky looked at Finn for a while, then took out the communicator to check the briefing of the field team.After a moment, he grunted and led them to the shuttle.Finn and Dahl board the airship.Dahl didn't know how Finn had faked the mission briefing, but he didn't see the need to go any further. On the shuttle were Captain Abernathy, Commander King, and, besides that, a nervous-looking second lieutenant whom Dahl had never seen before.The poor fellow had already realized what it meant for the three officers to appear on the ship, and began to secretly calculate the probability of survival, but obviously the result was not what he hoped to see.Dahl smiled at him and sat down beside him; the ensign looked away. A few minutes later, Kerensky came to the console.The shuttle boat immediately took off from the hangar and headed for the Nantes. "Some of you joined the team temporarily." Captain Abernathy nodded towards Dahl and Finn, "Then I will repeat the current situation and our attack plan. The Nantes attacked the ship where the Bishop was After that, contact was lost. We think it is possible that the Kalinda rebel spies took control of some systems, cut off the communication and opened fire on the Bishop's ship, but in the end the crew should have regained part of the ship's control, otherwise the South The Special will continue to completely destroy the Bishop's ship. Our mission is to land on the Nantes, find out the situation, and assist in arresting the rebels if necessary." "Is there any clue to the identity of the rebels, sir?" Dahl said this out of nowhere, even a little surprised to himself.Oh hell, he grumbled to himself. "Very good question, Lieutenant Dahl," King said. "Before we sailed from the Dauntless, I applied for a list of the Nantes' crew. The crew has been stable for several months, but new people have recently joined , is a crew member named Jay Weston. Now he is listed as a key investigation object." "Wait," interrupted Finn, "you mean Jay Weston?" "Yes." Jin replied, a little annoyed at being interrupted. "Ever served on the Springfield?" Finn continued to ask. "Yes, there before transfer to the Nantes," King said. "What's the matter?" "I know this man," said Finn, "I've known him since I was on the Springfield." "My God," Abernathy said, turning to Finn, "tell me about him." "There is not much to say." Finn looked at the captain, then at Jin, "We are colleagues and work in the cargo hold." "Is he your friend?" King asked. "Not a friend, sir," Finn said, "Jay's a jerk, he doesn't have the word 'friend' in his lexicon. But I've been with him a lot for over a year, and he's never shown an iota of traitor. look." "A spy is not a good spy if he is seen to be treasonous," King said. "Finn, we need you to tell us everything you know about him," Abernathy said eagerly, "any information we might use, anything that will help us when more Kalinda rebel ships gather at The previous information about regaining control of the Nantes. Because once they arrive before the Nantes recovers, the Intrepid alone will not be enough to guarantee the safety of the Bishop. At that time, not only the civil war of the Kalindas, but the entire galaxy going to war." A long, suffocating silence ensued. Finn was also silent for a while, and then said, "Uh, yes, sir." "Great, thank you," Abernathy said, as if momentarily relieved. "Wow, this team went through a last minute personnel change and you happen to know the guy we suspect is a spy. That's pretty amazing. What are the odds of that happening?" "It's an inevitable probability," Finn said. "I agree," Abernathy said. "Captain, before Finn's crew reports to us about Weston's situation, I would like to discuss the layout of the Nantes with you first." Jin said, and then he and Abernathy were immersed in selfless discussions. bingo. Dahl turned to Finn and said, "Are you okay?" "I'm fine," Finn replied. "Are you sure?" Darl asked. "Forget it, Andy," Finn said. "It's just a coincidence, just a coincidence. I'll make it through, and you'll make it through. We'll be back on the Intrepid, and we'll drink together, Then when Maya wakes up, I'll visit her at the medical center and get beaten up. That's my prediction. We can bet if you want." Dahl smiled. "Okay." He sat back in his seat and looked at Abernathy and Kim, who were still discussing.Then he turned to look at the other ensign.He was looking at Finn elusively. After a while, the second lieutenant looked at Dahl, looking relieved. Then he looked guilty again.