The Brave and the Bold Book One (StarTrek 1) by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Author:Keith R. A. DeCandido [DeCandido, Keith R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek
Published: 2002-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

MATT DECKER found Jim Kirk sitting on the bench next to the statue in Posada Circle. It had been almost eighteen hours since Tomasina Laubenthal had killed herself. Decker, who had indeed been unable to sleep, had dealt with everything since then, as Kirk had left the scene and wandered back to this bronze likeness of Captain Bernabe Posada.

“You plan on spending the rest of your life here, Jim?”

Kirk looked up, his eyes bloodshot. “If you’re here to reprimand me, Commodore—”

“What the hell would I want to do that for?”

“I failed,” Kirk said, sounding surprised that Decker would ask such a foolish question. “I was supposed to take Laubenthal into custody, and I didn’t do it.”

Decker held up a small handheld computer. “Know what this is?”

Kirk shook his head.

“Laubenthal’s diary. Vascogne found it when he and Bronstein went through her house. Most of it’s pretty dry—until she lost her job. After that, she completely lost it. Jim, the woman was several crystals short of a warp core—there was nothing you could have said. She was completely insane. Those people you talked to at the SCMC were just scared, normal people. Words work on rational people. Crazy people, though, that’s a no-win situation.”

“I’ve never believed in the no-win situation.”

Decker snorted. “Yeah, well, I don’t like to lose, either. Doesn’t mean it isn’t gonna happen.”

Kirk said nothing in response to that.

“Vascogne also recovered the Malkus Artifact. For all the trouble that thing caused, it’s pretty dull. Just a square piece of metal with a slight green glow, and this weird marking on it. It can’t be transported, so the Enterprise is sending a shuttle down.”

That got Kirk’s attention, and he looked up at Decker. “The Enterprise?”

Decker smiled. The last Kirk knew, his entire ship was under sedation. “That’s right, Jim. You’ve got your ship back. Whatever Rosenhaus and McCoy came up with worked. They’ve been administering the antidote on your ship, and the hospitals have been handling it down here. It’s not an instant cure, but your people should be ship-shape again in a few hours.”

Kirk let out a long breath. “That’s good news, Matt. Thanks.”

“Not only that, but you and I can finally get out of here. The minister of state is going to be Acting Chief Representative until they can hold another election in a month or two. Once she’s released by the hospital, she’ll take over, and we can revoke martial law.”

At last, Kirk smiled. “That’s even better news.” The smile then fell. “What was the final death toll?”

“Four hundred and fifty-six. Well, technically, four hundred and fifty-eight, if you count Laubenthal herself and that other wrongful death Bronstein has had to deal with that was unrelated.”

“That’s more than the crew of either of our ships,” Kirk said in a quiet voice.

“True,” Decker said as he sat down next to the younger man on the bench. “On the other hand, over four hundred thousand were infected. That’s a point-one-percent fatality rate.” He sighed. “That doesn’t change how much it stinks, but it could’ve been a lot worse.

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