Preserver by William Shatner Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Author:William Shatner, Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books

NINETEEN

“Logic has nothing to do with it,” Spock said.

That statement brought absolute silence to the conference room aboard the U.S.S. Sovereign.

Less than five minutes ago, Spock’s mirror duplicate had been beamed up from Vulcan to meet face-to-face with Tiberius for the first time in more than a century. The intendant’s health had suffered badly during the century he had lived as a fugitive in the mirror universe. He had spent the past few months on Vulcan, being treated for early-onset Bendii syndrome brought on by stress and poor nutrition. Though the disease was at least under control, the side effects of the syndrome and of various drug interactions included occasional intervals in which traditional Vulcan self-control was lost. This, unfortunately, was one of those intervals. The intendant’s face was still twisted by undisguised hatred as he stared at Tiberius.

Kirk knew the two adversaries’ mutual antipathy was so strong that at any moment the silence could give way to violence. He had to keep everyone speaking, so he went first. He cleared his throat. “I can’t believe you said that, Spock.”

The Spock of Kirk’s universe placidly folded his hands on the conference table before him. “It is true, nonetheless.”

“I will not help you,” Spock’s counterpart shouted angrily. “I will not help him. Absolutely not!”

Tiberius leaned forward from his chair. “Spock,” he said to the intendant, drawing out the name. “Haven’t you been listening? We’re these people’s only hope.” Tiberius grinned. “It’s the chance you’ve been waiting for. To do good. How can you refuse when even I can’t?”

“I do not know what hold you have over these people,” Intendant Spock bitterly replied, “but I will not support any course of action which will, in the end, provide you with an advantage.”

“He will have no advantage,” Kirk said firmly. “I guarantee it.”

“How can I trust you?” the duplicate Vulcan asked.

“You don’t have to,” Kirk answered. He pointed at Spock. “Trust him. Intendant, the reason you’re on Vulcan now, being treated for Bendii, is because of Spock. The reason why your daughter is not being held prisoner with the rest of Tiberius’s crew is because of Spock. The reason why the Federation is finally sitting down to discuss providing aid to the Vulcan Resistance in your universe is because of Spock. How can you not trust him? He’s you.”

The intendant rubbed at his pure white goatee, his haunted eyes looking past those gathered at the conference table. Where he turned his attention, beyond the viewports of the conference room, the rich red lands and copper-green seas of Vulcan passed by majestically.

Kirk knew what the Earth of the mirror universe looked like—a dying world, scorched, scarred, poisoned. Under the Alliance, the mirror Vulcan had fared little better. Its biosphere was left intact, the mirror Spock’s daughter had told Kirk. But nothing else was. And it had been Intendant Spock himself who had negotiated the terms of mirror Vulcan’s surrender.

Kirk knew firsthand the internal conflict now attacking Intendant Spock. Even the existence of a flourishing version of his world would torment him.

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