The storage room containing the medicine was guarded, but Tucker had scouted out the maintenance passages in the clinic’s drop ceilings days before, so he was able to get himself and Ruiz inside without the guard noticing. Moments later, they pried a container open and beheld the hundreds of vials arrayed before them. “And there we are,” Ruiz breathed. He reached in and pulled out a vial—then hesitated.
“What is it?” Tucker asked.
“Any medicine we take out of here,” the other man said slowly, “is a dose one of the Veranith patients won’t be getting. What if someone dies because we took this?”
“Think of how many people will die if M’Tezir keeps hoarding this treatment. You need to get this to Doctor Lucas and his team so they can reproduce it, get it out planetwide with no strings attached.”
“I know, but . . . the big picture’s still made up of little pictures. How do we have the right to choose one life over another?”
“It’s Maltuvis that’s forced that choice, not you, Tony. He’s the one to blame for this mess.” As Ruiz continued to think it over, Tucker added, “Look at it this way. Taking too long to act could cost lives, too.” Including ours.
Ruiz sighed. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here.” He pocketed the vial.
Tucker took a second one. “Just in case,” he explained. “If there’s trouble, we split up. One of us has to get back to Doctor Lucas.”
As they worked their way out of the building, Tucker resolved that if only one of them could get away, it had to be Ruiz. This wasn’t just selflessness; Tucker had met Doctor Lucas before, following the Augment attack on Cold Station 12. It had been a decade since then, and he had changed somewhat, but an observant physician like Lucas could probably recognize him if given a good look. Besides, if Tucker got the M’Tezir troops to chase him, he’d have a better chance of eluding them—or surviving interrogation if captured—than Ruiz.
Reaching the rear exit, they bided their time until the next gap in the patrol. “You know,” Ruiz observed in a whisper, “if I were, oh, the troublesomely inquisitive sort, I think my next move would be to get into one of the countries M’Tezir’s been occupying for a while, so I could discover how they were treating their people, bring back evidence to the League. If people could see what Maltuvis was really doing, then maybe that whole ‘angel of mercy’ image might get tarnished.”
Tucker pursed his lips, nodding. “Maybe.”
“So if I were that kind of person, I’d need some connections to get me into such a country without being noticed. Which I imagine would be harder than just lying low in the country you were already in.”
“I imagine so.” Tucker studied him. “You have a suggestion?”
Ruiz grinned. “I have a connection. An old friend who’s been smuggling Narpran rum out of the country since the occupation. He knows where to go to avoid notice, and who’ll look the other way if they do spot his boat. He could get us inside.”
Tucker turned his head sharply. “ ‘Us’?”
“Well, he won’t trust just anyone. Now, I’d be happy to let you go alone if it were up to me.” He rubbed his neck. “Rocks are amazing things, but pillows they’re not, so I’d be happy to go catch up on my sleep. But my contact probably wouldn’t be willing to help if I didn’t come along to vouch for you.”
Tucker nodded sarcastically. “Right. Of course.”
Still, he admired the man’s resourcefulness and determination. And in his own way, Ruiz was good company. That was something Tucker appreciated right now more than he cared to admit. He hadn’t achieved a telepathic link with T’Pol in weeks, and he wasn’t sure if it was simply because they were on opposite sides of explored space or because they still hadn’t worked their way past their dispute. Either way, it had gotten lonelier in his head, and he could use some companionship, a friend he had common ground with, even if he couldn’t admit how common.
He wondered if Narpran rum was as good as Saurian brandy. . . .
Hainali Basin, Rigel III
“Are we lost?” Rey Sangupta peered out the windscreen of the hoverskiff, searching in vain for any sign of the Hainali River’s coastline. They had arrived during the flood season, and portions of the river were so wide at this time of year that to an observer in midriver, both shores could be below the horizon. Aside from the occasional tussocks of floating vegetation, there was nothing in Sangupta’s field of view but water. “It’s conceivable we could be lost.”