Текст книги "Orion's Hounds "

Автор книги: Christopher Bennett

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Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

Epilogue

Captain’s Log, Stardate 57223.6

Since the breakup of the Conclave, there have been several mutinies aboard various Pa’haquel fleets, as additional junior elders have chosen to reject the so-called Proplydian Covenant and join Aq’hareq’s dissident group. And there are still countless more Pa’haquel fleet-clans scattered throughout the Gum Nebula, clans that weren’t involved in the Conclave and will have to be persuaded individually to change—or to resist change. So far, though, the majority are abiding by the Covenant, and Qui’hibra believes that will continue. He’s also convinced that the dissidents are doomed to failure as they eventually run out of skymounts and are outcompeted by the new alliance. The process could take generations, though, and I fully expect us to find ourselves dealing with its consequences somewhere down the road.

For now, though, things seem well enough in hand, and the process will likely go better without further interference from us. But we haven’t yet said our last good-byes to the star-jellies. At their invitation, we are returning to their breeding world in the Kyle system for shore leave and scientific research—which I suspect are much the same thing as far as Jaza and our science staff are concerned.

T’Pel quirked a brow at Tuvok as she came out of the bedroom to find him standing near the entrance to their quarters. “Is it not time for your daily meditation?” she asked.

“Yes. However, I wished to see you off.”

“That is not necessary.”

“No.”

“But…I appreciate the support.”

“As I have appreciated yours, my wife.” Their fingers touched. “And I am certain that Dr. Ree, Nurse Ogawa, and the Bolajis will appreciate your assistance as well.” After finding a sense of purpose in tending to the Shalra refugees, T’Pel had proposed to Ree that she could be of value as a sickbay assistant, taking some of the responsibility for the care of the premature infant Totyarguil Bolaji along with other duties as needed. Ree had readily accepted her offer, and Ogawa had suggested that those other duties could include tending to the needs and education of her own son, Noah Powell. T’Pel had welcomed the opportunity to care for children once again, and she displayed a palpable eagerness to begin her work. Not that she was emotional about it, of course; it was simply an accumulation of energy which could be directed into her work. Eminently logical, as always.

After she left, Tuvok darkened their quarters and sat before his meditation flame, contemplating it, yielding to peace and clarity. A sizable fraction of the crew was taking leave on Kyle III right now, with others awaiting their turn, but that held no allure for him. To a Vulcan, to rest was to rest,to cease using energy.

The presence of the star-jellies on Kyle III was not a factor in his decision. He could detect their telepathic communications just as strongly here in orbit as below. But their ongoing chatter posed no obstacle to his ability to meditate. His melds with Counselor Troi had helped him recover much of his shielding ability, though it would never be as strong as it once was. And though some residue of the star-jellies’ emotions continued to pervade his awareness, he was confident now in his ability to manage them.

But when he rose to respond to the door signal and found Melora Pazlar standing there, he realized he still needed to work some on managing his own.

“Mr. Tuvok, can I talk to you?” the Elaysian asked with apparent unease.

“Certainly, Lieutenant. Please come in.”

She walked in slowly, leaning on her cane, her motor-assist servos whirring softly. She gladly accepted his offer of a seat. “I am gratified to see you regaining your full mobility at last,” Tuvok said neutrally.

“Yeah, I’m almost there. Good as new.” She took a deep breath. “Physically, at least. Tuvok, I’m going to be frank with you.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

A nervous laugh. “Yeah, I guess so. Look. Ever since the…since you attacked me, I’ve been—hell, I’ve been scared. I’ve…it made me feel so helpless, so violated, and I’m—I’m kind of nervous to be in the same room with you.”

Tuvok yearned for the calm he’d had moments ago. “Lieutenant, I cannot express how truly sorry I am for what—”

She held up her hand. “Screw the apologies, Tuvok. That’s not what I need, not what I’m asking for.” He raised a curious eyebrow, and she went on. “When I get afraid, the way I like to deal with it is to face it head-on. That’s what I’m here for. Tuvok—I want you to teach me to defend myself.”

Tuvok’s head pulled back fractionally. “Lieutenant?”

“I know, I took the usual Starfleet courses, but they didn’t quite know how to deal with someone as—as fragile as me. It basically came down to ‘keep your phaser handy and try to stay out of the way.’ But obviously that can’t always work. And it’s not enough for me, to be dependent on a weapon, on a machine, on other people. Because other people can’t always protect me.

“I need to learn how to defend myself better against people much stronger than I am—which, let’s face it, is going to be just about everybody. And I want you to teach me how.”

“Lieutenant…I appreciate the request, but perhaps you would benefit more from a more qualified teacher. Commander Keru, perhaps.”

“No. No, it has to be you. I understand, you’re afraid of hurting me again. Hell, I’mafraid of you hurting me again. But that’s why it has to be you, Tuvok. If I can learn to hold my own against you, then I can beat this…this emotional baggage you’ve saddled me with.

“Besides…we’re crewmates, right? We’re going to be working together for, probably for years. We need to be able to trust each other. So here I am…extending my trust to you. Do you accept it?”

Tuvok pondered. It was a very surprising gesture. He would not have expected an emotional being to be so prepared to trust him after…

No. His surprise was not about her ability to trust. It arose from his difficulty trusting himself. Yet the star-jellies had trusted him. Deanna Troi had trusted him with her mind. Captain Riker still trusted him as his tactical officer. T’Pel had trusted him enough to join him in his new life. And now Melora Pazlar was offering him her trust in spite of everything. With so much trust extended his way, was it logical to deny it to himself?

Tuvok rose. “I will meet you in holodeck one at 0800 tomorrow morning, Lieutenant. I expect you to be prompt. And I expect you to follow my instructions without protest and without distracting attempts at humor.”

Melora gaped at him in disbelief. Then she shook her head and laughed. “You have a deal, Commander.” She rose and stood at attention. “No attemptsat humor.”

Tuvok realized he was in for quite a challenge.

“May I join you, Christine?”

Vale looked up at Jaza’s voice, surprised to see him in the mess hall. “Najem, hi. Uhh, sure. I thought you were down on the planet.”

“I was, but there was some equipment I needed, so I thought I’d come up and grab some lunch before gathering it.”

“Ah, okay.” She let him eat in silence for a few moments, then spoke. “Najem, I need to ask you something.”

“Sure, anything.”

“You know how you’ve been this really good friend to me the past few weeks?”

He stopped eating. “I, um, I’ve tried,” he said modestly.

“Yeah, about that, though. Has it really been about being a friend to me? Or has it been about keeping yourself available to me and being really good to me in the hopes that I’d fall for you? Sort of a no-pressure romancing?”

It was a moment before he responded. “Actually it’s both. Is that a problem? I mean, there is no pressure, you’re right about that. And I’d sort of gotten the impression lately that maybe you might be open to…changing your mind about us.”

“Well…I was.”

He studied her. “Was. As in, not anymore.”

“Yeah.”

“May I ask what I did to change things?”

“Nothing. Pardon the cliché, but it’s me, not you.” She took a deep breath. “When the Pa’haquel had Deanna captive…Will was ready to sacrifice her for the greater good. I could see it was tearing him up inside. But he was able to make that choice. Thank God he didn’t have to, but he was able to.

“And when I saw that, I realized…I don’t think I could make that choice about someone I…someone I loved.” She smirked. “In a weird way, it bothers me to realize that. The woman who inspired me to join Starfleet in the first place…when we met, she actually killedher own lover to stop him from killing me. I’ve always tried to live up to her example, and it’s a bit disturbing to admit I can’t in that regard. But at the time, really, I guess I thought more about her bravery than about what she had to sacrifice. I didn’t know her as well as I know Will and Deanna, didn’t know her lover as anything but a suspect. So I didn’t feelit the way I did with Will. Now that I have…I just don’t feel ready to put myself in a position where I might have to make that kind of choice.

“So I really need to notbe in a relationship right now, Najem. I need to focus on my Starfleet duties, and not have to deal with complications like that. Maybe someday, when I’ve matured more as an officer, as a woman, I’ll be ready. But not now. Okay?”

He placed his hand atop hers. “Okay. I understand. But I want you to know…whatever ulterior motives I may have had, the friendship is genuine. And it’s there for you if you need it.”

She placed her other hand atop his. “Thank you. I appreciate it. And we’ll see how it goes. For now, though…for now you should get back down to the planet. Back to work.”

He nodded solemnly, and removed his hand from between hers. They sat in silence for a moment, accepting closure.

But then he looked up. “Um, can I finish my lunch first?”

It was good to be the captain’s wife.

Will and Deanna had discovered a perfect, idyllic nook tucked away between the body of a sessile young jelly and the shore of the thermal lake in which it sat. Will had exercised his authority to command everyone else to stay well away from the lake so they could have it all to themselves. Yet once she’d started to take advantage of their solitude and unfasten his uniform, he’d suddenly realized that the star-jelly itself would be a spectator. He’d hesitated for a moment, babbling something about contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She’d reminded him that this “minor” was nearly two hundred years old and shared the collective knowledge of its entire species. “Oh, great,” Will had said. “You mean I have the whole species as an audience?”

“Don’t worry,” she’d purred. “Their perceptions of it will be filtered through me, so I know they’ll be suitably impressed.” She’d gone on to offer several less verbal and more persuasive arguments, and soon he’d gotten back into the spirit of the moment.

Now they were basking together in the afterglow, leaning against the firm, soft surface of one of the jelly’s supporting ribs, resting their weight on a shelf it had materialized a little below the waterline for their benefit. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Will said after a while.

“I know,” she said. He threw her a look of mild, amused annoyance before growing serious again.

“When you were in sickbay…merged with the jellies…”

“Yes?”

“When you asked why we hadn’t had a child yet…was that the jellies speaking, or you?”

She didn’t reply right away. She stood up out of the water, stretched, shook out her hair and leaned against the slope of the support rib. His admiration of the sight was palpable, but she could sense that it hadn’t diverted him from the question. She hadn’t really meant it to, but she’d needed a moment to build up her courage.

“It was both, I suppose.”

“We haven’t really talked about it much.” He had to pause for a moment himself, but then he came out and asked it. “Do you want to have a baby?”

She smiled. “It wasn’t something I’d really thought about…not consciously, anyway. I didn’t even realize it had been on my mind until the jellies found it there. I think it started when I was first reaching out to try to contact them. My mind brushed across everyone in the crew…even little Totyarguil.” She knelt by Will, took his hand. “The way his mind felt, Will…it had such purity, such perfect innocence. There’s nothing quite like it. To feel a, a soul like that inside me, to know it came from a part of me…and a part of you…it would be more amazing than anything I’ve ever experienced.”

Will thought about it. “That purity…it never lasts, though, does it?”

“No,” she admitted. “But it’s a good place to start from. A lot of it can be kept, cultivated, nurtured. And sometimes…even some of what’s been lost can be gotten back.”

“So are you saying you’re ready for that challenge?”

“After all I’ve done, all I’ve learned in my life, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. And who knows if it’ll last, Will? How many times have we almost lost each other? How many times before we even got around to admitting what we had? We’ve waited long enough as it is.”

She could tell the prospect excited him, moved him. But still he hesitated, and of course she knew why. “Would it even be appropriate?” he asked. “Starfleet had enough trouble with a captain and his wife serving on the same crew. How great a conflict of interest could there be if my own child were on board?”

“I don’t see any conflict. Your job as captain is to protect your ship, your crew.”

“But if I kept worrying about my baby, let it keep me from making a sacrifice I had to make…”

“How is it any different if it’s the Bolajis’ baby, or Alyssa’s son?” She held his gaze significantly. “How is it any different from being willing to sacrifice me? We’ve both proven ourselves willing to make such hard choices.”

He said nothing for a while, frowning. She offered another thought. “For the Pa’haquel, this is the way it’s always been. Their ships are their homes, their families. They constantly put their children and loved ones in harm’s way. And they accept it.”

“Because they had to. Because they led a harsh life.”

“Come look at the ruins of my mother’s house on Betazed and tell me there’s any life that doesn’t pose the same risks. What matters is to do what good you can while you have the chance. True, it could be taken from you, negated at any time. But it might not. And if you don’t even try because you’re afraid it won’t last…”

“Right. I understand.”

She studied him. “Will…you haven’t said if youwant a baby.”

“Can’t you tell?”

“Not the point. Will, do you want to have a baby? I’m not asking you to commit to trying, I just want to know what you feelabout it.”

After a moment, he softened, smiled. “Deanna Troi…nothing in this universe would make me happier or prouder than to be the father of your child. Or children.”

She snuggled up against him again, kissed him softly. “Thank you.” Then they kissed again, for a much longer time. “So is that a yes?”

He pursed his lips. “Call it an agreement in principle. There are still a lot of things we need to decide—and there are definitely people we should talk to.”

It was a long time before Christine Vale responded. “I think…I’d be okay with that.”

Riker was surprised. “It wouldn’t bother you? A captain having to deal with being a father as well?”

She studied him. “I think you’ve proven that you can balance those responsibilities. To be honest, you do it better than I could. I know that now. Yeah, there probably were some personal motives behind your decisions with the star-jellies. But you and Deanna didn’t let those motives get in the way, and they meshed pretty well with the practical objectives of the situation. And all in all, your rapport with her made you a pretty effective team. You managed to resolve an ancient conflict and bring new hope to a whole region of the galaxy. And…I’d say that the Federation’s ideals were upheld pretty damn well.” He gave her a look of gratitude.

She smirked. “Of course, being a father can be a full-time job. I wouldn’t even think of letting you do it if you didn’t have a really amazing first officer to pick up the slack.”

Riker smiled back. “I do, don’t I? In more ways than one, Christine. Thanks.”

He led her out of the ready room and back to the bridge. “Of course we aren’t going to jump into it right away. There’s still a lot to work out.”

“Sure, I understand.”

“Right now, we have a mission to get back to,” he went on, pitching his voice for the bridge at large. “We’ve still got a lot of Bubblegum to chew.” He ignored the groans that ensued. “Ensign Lavena, prepare to break orbit.”

“Aye, sir. Course?”

Vale exchanged a look with him. “You know, after this marathon run to the Vela Association, we’re a lot farther out from the Federation than we were scheduled to be by now. Should we go back, pick up charting where we left off?”

Riker thought it over as he took his seat. He traded a look with Deanna, who smiled. “No,” he said. “We go forward. Always forward.”

THE VOYAGES OF THE

STARSHIP TITAN

WILL CONTINUE

About the Author

At the age of five and a half, Christopher L. Bennett saw his first episode of Star Trek,believing it to be a show about a strange airplane that only flew at night. As he continued watching, he discovered what those points of light in the sky reallywere. This awakened a lifelong fascination with space, science, and speculative fiction. By age twelve he was making up Trek-universe stories set a century after Kirk’s adventures (an idea years ahead of its time), but soon shifted to creating his own original universe. He eventually decided this was what he wanted to do for a career. Meanwhile, Christopher made two separate passes through the University of Cincinnati, thereby putting off real life as long as possible, and earned a B.S. in physics and a B.A. with High Honors in history in the process.

Christopher’s published works include “Aggravated Vehicular Genocide” in the November 1998 Analog;“Among the Wild Cybers of Cybele” in the December 2000 Analog; Star Trek: S.C.E. #29—Aftermath;“…Loved I Not Honor More” in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Prophecy and Changeanthology; his first novel, Star Trek: Ex Machina;and “Brief Candle” in the Star Trek: Voyager—Distant Shoresanthology. More information and cat pictures can be found at http://home.fuse.net/ChristopherLBennett/.

The author is not the same Christopher Bennett whose father is Star Trekmovie producer Harve Bennett, though he is apparently a cousin of paleontologist Chris Bennett. You can see why he uses the “L.”