Insurrection by J.M. Dillard

Insurrection by J.M. Dillard

Author:J.M. Dillard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek


EIGHT

Padd in hand, Gallatin strode into the tactical room, feeling the painful pull of a deep frown in his too-taut brow. The information on the padd had him concerned; he resented any interference in the Ba’ku project and had counted on it going swiftly, cleanly …

... in part, because he did not want to have to think about what the Son’a were doing here.

We’re doing good. We’re taking this incredible healing power not only for ourselves—who deserve it most of all—but for the entire galaxy. We’re not even killing them—

It was Gallatin himself who had convinced Ru’afo that the Federation would swoop down hard on the Son’a. True, the Son’a had the advantage of better technology, but in terms of sheer numbers, they could not withstand an assault by the Federation. Why not use the Federation instead, with an eye to one day consuming it?

—we’re only moving them.

(Taking their home, their privacy, their way of life…)

No. Simply moving them, so that the rest of the galaxy might live. Might be healed.

It was easy when Gallatin thought of them objectively, as a race; it was much harder when he remembered the specific individuals. When he remembered what it was like to think innocently, as they did, to wish no harm …

But they harmed you, Gallatin. Look at the diseased, decrepit thing you have become.

He stepped up behind Ru’afo, who was for the umpteenth time watching a simulation of the injection procedure. Over Ru’afo’s shoulder, Gallatin watched the screen as the streamlined, elegantly small injector assembly sailed into the outermost of the planet’s rings and fired bright blasts that flared blue, then surged through violet to red, flaring brighter, ever brighter, until at last the ring itself was consumed, trembling as if ablaze.

And then the next ring, and the next, until Gallatin beheld a world afire.

At his first viewing of it, he had thought it beautiful, glorious; now it simply annoyed him, and made him anxious for it all to be done with. He judged Ru’afo’s constant replaying of the simulation to be obsessive.

Ru’afo apparently sensed his second’s presence, for he spoke first, without turning from the screen. “The injector performs perfectly in every situation… .”

“Sir,” Gallatin said urgently, “as the Enterprise left orbit, one of their support craft went down to the surface.”

Ru’afo swiveled in his chair at once, and took the padd Gallatin proffered him.

“It appeared to be the captain’s yacht,” Gallatin continued. “Five persons on board.”

As he studied the padd, Ru’afo’s expression grew stony—he was careful not to resplit the newly healed skin—then he looked up with eyes as hard, as determined, as Gallatin had ever seen. “We’re not waiting until morning. Take the shuttles and get everyone off the surface tonight.”

Gallatin nodded, and moved to turn—but paused as Ru’afo spoke again.

“Gallatin ... if Picard or any of his people interfere … eliminate them.”

* * *

It was the end of the world, Artim decided, even though the stories his father told him spoke only of a different world’s demise. This world was supposed to go on forever… .



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