The Higher Frontier by Christopher L. Bennett

Author:Christopher L. Bennett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek
Published: 2020-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Resolving the dispute between the Terebellan factions proved less challenging than Pavel Chekov had feared. It turned out that the majority of the population was humbled and troubled by the fighting that had broken out, unaware that tensions had gotten so bad between the New Humans and their immediate neighbors. For every human colonist whose view of humans with enhanced abilities was colored by fears handed down since the Eugenics Wars (which, admittedly, had been a very long time ago), there were others who still gave more weight to the “Human” than the “New” and began asking why members of their own species were being treated as hostile.

Thus, Governor Kisak and the council under Agkan found themselves facing political pressure from a hitherto-silent majority to drop their hard line and reconcile with the New Humans. In turn, Sungkar and her people made a renewed effort at public outreach to reassure those who still mistrusted them—like having their telekinetic healer speed the recovery of the farmhands who had been telekinetically injured, and offer similar healing services to others in need, sophont and livestock alike. Or using their connection to the haipa cats and giant corvids to encourage them to hunt farther afield from the Terebellans’ farmlands and leave their livestock alone.

By the second day of negotiations, Sungkar and Kisak were laughing together like the old friends they had once been, and the remaining points of contention were being resolved in quick succession. The only hitch in the proceedings was that Haru Yamasaki had called in sick that morning, leaving the security arrangements in the hands of his deputy and Lieutenant Nizhoni. “If things are going so smoothly, you’ll have no need of me anyway,” the security director had told Chekov over his communicator. As usual, though, he was not as good as he seemed to think he was at masking the passive-aggressive hostility beneath his deferential words. Yamasaki was clearly a man who resented losing or being outperformed at anything. It was no doubt why he disliked the New Humans so much. But in Chekov’s estimation, he was still an intelligent and rational person. Hopefully that meant he would come around in time, as most of his fellow colonists now had.

All in all, Chekov was confident that a settlement would be signed by lunchtime, and Reliant could be on its way.

Until two whirling shimmers of light suddenly appeared on either side of the New Human contingent and resolved into a pair of chillingly familiar, faceless armored figures.

The Naazh had returned.

Before Chekov could react, the one on the left—an unfamiliar Naazh in heavy, clean-lined blue-and-silver armor—drove a buzzing, vibrating toothed blade through Ravi Mehrotra’s heart from behind. Beside him, Leilani Sungkar and Maya Arias let out choking gasps and convulsed in pain, and Chekov realized that the telepaths must have felt their companion’s death within their minds.

As the gathered delegates screamed and scrambled for the doors, the second Naazh, wearing scarlet-and-black armor that Chekov recognized from the Enterprise, closed menacingly on the staggered Sungkar.

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