Part 23 (1/2)
”I can see that,” Worf said. ”Are you damaged, Commander?”
”Not significantly, thank you. How is Ensign Ro?”
”Not too bad.” Worf looked through the medical kit. ”I will stabilize her condition before we bring her to the shuttle.”
”That is a relief,” Data said. ”I was concerned.”
”I'm touched,” Ro said, grimacing again. ”What happened to the communicators, Worf? We never heard from the s.h.i.+p after the bombings began.”
”The captain believes they were jammed by the Krann, except for communications between us and Government House. We believe the Krann cut off communications between us in order to create more uncertainty. No doubt the Krann thought that allowing us to talk to Government House, but not to you two, might lead us to think that communications were clear and that you were dead. It certainly did make us uncertain.” Worf frowned darkly. ”Much has happened in the last few hours, and none of it is good. I will brief you on the way back.”
The turbolift doors opened onto the bridge, and Picard walked briskly to his chair. Harkey was at Ops. ”Have you reached Presider Hek, Ensign?” he asked her.
”No, sir,” she replied. ”Not yet.”
”Keep at it.”
Worf's prime backup, Lieutenant Gomez, was handling the Security station in the Klingon's absence. Picard addressed him. ”Mr. Gomez, tell me about the war.”
”Captain, the Lethanta are under substantial attack by heavily armed units of the Krann fleet,” Gomez said. ”Virtually all orbital facilities surrounding Nem Ma'ak Bratuna have been destroyed, with large loss of life. So far, Lethantan defense forces have prevented any significant additional damage to ground-based facilities, but there have been several new medium-yield nuclear missile strikes within the larger cities, and Lethantan ground defenses are beginning to collapse. A large Lethantan s.p.a.ce force is heading for the midst of the main Krann fleet, apparently to conduct reprisal attacks against the Krann civilian population.”
”Very well. Ensign Harkey, send the following message to Presider Hek and the First Among Equals. 'As the representative of the United Federation of Planets, I am proposing that both sides establish and observe a ceasefire in place before this war grows any wider.'” Picard chose his next words carefully. ”'There is no point in fighting. There is no issue here worth fighting about. We must put the past behind us and build a future, but we are fast losing any hope of doing it. I look forward to your affirmative response to this message.' End it there.”
”Captain?” Gomez reported. ”The Lethanta are now engaging elements of the main Krann fleet. Three large Krann s.h.i.+ps have been destroyed. They were city s.h.i.+ps, sir.” He paused. ”Estimated combined population, one point four million.”
Picard sighed. Any chance of peace seemed gone.
”The First Among Equals is calling, Captain,” Harkey reported.
”On screen.” Picard began to speak and then stopped, shocked. He had never seen a man seem to grow so old overnight.
”Kerajem,” Picard began almost gently, ”please stop this madness. This war can only lead to the destruction of both races. You must realize that.”
”I know that better than anyone, Captain Picard-but we lost three cities full of people in the first six minutes of this renewal of the war, not to mention the thousands of our people who were killed in the orbiting factories and other facilities. There must be an accounting.”
”We've watched as your s.h.i.+ps destroyed three large Krann vessels just minutes ago. The Krann craft were city s.h.i.+ps, populated by nearly a million and a half civilians.”
”Those s.h.i.+ps were destroyed in reprisal for the loss of our cities. We are the ones who were attacked, Captain. Not they.”
”Then your dead are revenged, First, for what that is worth. Can we not stop there?”
Kerajem bowed his head wearily. ”We will stop if they will stop, and not otherwise,” he said. ”We did not want this war, Captain Picard, but we will not run from it.”
”If I can arrange a ceasefire in place, will you observe it?”
”Yes-if you can arrange it. Meanwhile, we fight.”
”I will do my best. Picard out. Get me Hek,” he said to Harkey through clenched teeth.
Harkey looked up. ”Presider Hek is calling you, Captain.”
”Put him on screen.” Picard took a deep, calming breath. ”Presider Hek,” he said, ”I want to offer a proposal for a ceasefire-”
”Forget it,” the Krann leader said. His eyes seemed afire. ”This is not the time for a ceasefire. My people have waited for millennia for this day. Today we destroy those who nearly destroyed us. You won't stop us. Nothing can. Our third wave is about to begin its attack on Nem Ma'ak Bratuna.” He laughed. ”There won't be much left for the fourth wave to mop up, not after that. Then will come the planetwide radioactive dusting, and that will be that.” There was suddenly an expression of sheerest joy on Hek's face. ”Finally, finally, we have arrived at the day of the death of the hated Lethanta,” he crowed. ”My ancestors will be able to rest at long last.”
”The Lethanta are destroying your s.h.i.+ps,” Picard said. ”Can't you see?”
”They've blown up three city s.h.i.+ps,” Hek responded. ”That leaves us with a paltry fifty-two thousand and some odd. By the way, Captain, how are you feeling?”
Picard frowned. ”We immediately detected your attempt to infect the s.h.i.+p, Hek. It wasn't even close to successful.”
Hek grinned. ”I confess I'm disappointed, Picard. Despite your self-proclaimed neutral status, your continued presence in this system makes me nervous. I simply don't trust you, Captain. My people informed me that the virus they used was undetectable.”
”Perhaps it was-for you. Not for us.”
”My,” Hek said. ”You are advanced.”
”And the superweapon in Bay Fourteen was-?”
”A telescope, tarted up to look like it could blow a hole in your precious Enterprise. You were supposed to see right through it, of course, and you did-just as you were supposed to detect that young Wiggin was planted at the party by our intelligence people. Captain, we knew where your people were on our flags.h.i.+p the instant they arrived. We've had centuries to install sensors in every nook and cranny of this vessel. Nothing here escapes notice. Nothing. When your Riker and Troi suddenly appeared, we deduced that your civilization possessed some form of matter transmission-and so you do; now that's a secret I'd like for us. In any case, when Riker and Troi arrived, we integrated them into our strategic planning.”
”All of this nonsense with Wiggin was to distract us from the real plot against us,” Picard said. ”All the while, you were infecting Counselor Troi with the virus.”
”Correct,” Hek replied. ”It's spread quite easily by skin-to-skin contact, and Wiggin kept patting Troi on the hand. Troi then unwittingly pa.s.sed it to Commander Riker. It's a wonderful little virus, Captain. All it does in the first few hours is make you drowsy and take the edge off your appet.i.te. Then, sometime during the second day, your heart and lungs suddenly become inflamed and septic, and out you go. Of course, we've all been immunized.”
”How convenient for you.”
Hek stifled a yawn. ”Is there more, Captain? Because if there isn't-”
”I suppose there is nothing more to say at this time.”
”Then good-bye.”
”Sir?” Gomez said. ”Shuttlebay Three reports the shuttlecraft has returned with all hands aboard. One wounded, sir. Ensign Ro. Dr. Crusher is on her way there now.”
Picard sighed. ”Very well.”
The top officers of the Enterprise, except for Riker and Troi, had gathered in the conference lounge for a briefing on the Lethantan-Krann war. The first officer and the counselor had been placed in isolation by Dr. Crusher, but they were attending the meeting through the s.h.i.+p's communications system.
”The third attack wave is now in progress,” Worf reported. ”Presider Hek's expectations of a quick victory seem now to have been without any basis in fact. The Lethanta have been holding their own, but their resources are not unlimited. When their stores are exhausted, they will fall quickly.”
”When will they run out of supplies, Worf?” Riker asked.
”In two or three hours, Commander. The end is close. The Lethanta prepared themselves well for this battle, but the Krann attack has been unrelenting. The Lethanta have been forced to throw their reserves into the fighting earlier than they antic.i.p.ated. They are now fighting a holding action. This cannot succeed.”
”How quickly do you think they will fall after their supplies run out, Mr. Worf?” Picard asked.