Star Trek: Shatnerverse - 008 - Captain's Blood by William Shatner & Judith Reeves-stevens

Author:William Shatner & Judith Reeves-stevens [Shatner, William & Reeves-stevens, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780743480376
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2003-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

14

PROCESSING SEGMENT 3, STARDATE 57486.7

“We have to find Jim and McCoy,” Picard said.

La Forge nodded his agreement, but like Picard, kept close watch on the Reman doctor on the other side of the darkened infirmary. The two men stood beside an oversized examination table that was fitted with a pallet of autonomous medical devices. “Do you think we’re too late?” the engineer asked.

Picard held his hand over his mouth, as if covering a cough. “To stop the civil war?”

“If that’s what’s really going on,” La Forge said. For a moment, his eyes turned to Picard.

Picard returned his gaze without discomfort. The fact that the engineer’s eyes were artificial implants no longer registered with him. He had enjoyed friendship with a wholly artificial being in Data. He was presently taking direction, if not orders, from a holographic entity. More than any other person, Picard knew that the shell of an intelligent being had no bearing on what was truly important: the spirit that animated that shell.

“I’ve been wondering that myself,” Picard said, before he, like La Forge, returned his attention to the Reman.

“The third party,” La Forge said, and Picard knew the words La Forge wouldn’t say to identify that group. Words too dangerous to speak aloud in this system.

“Deliberately provoking a civil war,” Picard added. To him, that was the questionable theory that had driven this mission, but that now fit the facts. If custody of Joseph had truly been the sole reason for the attack on the Calypso, then why was the ship’s crew allowed to live? The intruders could just as easily have set their disruptors to kill. Surely, if the Calypso and all hands aboard had simply disappeared, the resulting situation would have been far more stable. As it was, with survivors to raise the alarm and push for an investigation, and with a father like Jim Kirk who could be counted upon to attempt to rescue his son without regard for consequences, it seemed the people responsible for this outrage could not have done more if they had wished to create further tension.

But with the Romulan Empire already on the path to war, why undertake a side mission to attack the crew of the Calypso? Picard still could not fathom the strategy involved, nor the purpose behind it.

“Can you see what he’s doing over there?” he asked La Forge.

The engineer blinked.

Picard waited patiently for his response. Blinking meant La Forge was shifting the frequency sensitivity of his implants, perhaps to look into the infrared.

“I’d say he’s preparing spray hypos.”

“Not an encouraging development, I’d say.”

La Forge folded his arms. “We could take him.”

“We might have to,” Picard agreed. “But what then? Beverly and Mister Scott are in whatever passes for surgery around here. And Jim and McCoy are in the burn unit.”

“Captain, this might not be the most welcome suggestion, but we are outnumbered down here. I think the best course of action might be to get back to the Calypso and call for the Titan.”

Picard was uncomfortable even considering that possibility, but knew he must.

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