The Captain's Oath

by Christopher L. Bennett

  Alden did his best, and finally Spock’s voice came through. “Spock to . . . prise, do . . . ead me?”

  Kirk spoke up. “Spock, this is the captain. We read you. Are you ready to beam up? Repeat, are you ready to beam up?”

  “. . . gative, Captain. You must not . . . this vault to . . . destroyed. Repeat: You must not allow this vault to be destroyed.” Alden had finally cleaned up the channel.

  “Spock, what did you find?”

  Spock told him in a few terse sentences—and Kirk realized that the stakes had just gotten far higher.

  SACAGAWEA

  2264

  Eighteen

  Computer translation creates the illusion of pure objectivity, but the software can all too easily reflect and even amplify the unconscious biases of its programmers. It’s a delicate balance—we want to interpret other languages into terms we understand, yet not let our preconceptions distort their real meaning. It helps if translator programming teams are multicultural and multispecies, but the programmers still have a responsibility to remove themselves from the equation as much as possible.

  —Hoshi Sato

  U.S.S. Sacagawea

  “The situation is getting more serious, Jim,” said Commodore Wesley.

  Seated at his ready room desk for a change, Kirk furrowed his brow at the image of his mentor on the screen. “Has the Enterprise or the Sau Lan Wu found another Agni colony?”

  “No, not yet. And no Federation worlds have detected any Agni presence on N-Class planets in their systems. But we’ve improved our scans enough to make a concerning discovery about the nature of the Agni’s facility here on 88 Leonis.” He paused for emphasis. “Jim—it’s a shipyard.”

  Kirk took a moment to absorb that. “How many ships?”

  “Seven of the cylinder types we’ve fought before. At least eleven smaller craft, roughly destroyer or frigate size.”

  “Can you tell if they’re building them on site?”

  “It seems unlikely that they could have, given the time frame, and there’s insufficient evidence of large-scale mining to suggest they were made from local materials. It’s more likely they’ve brought part of their existing fleet here for repairs and refitting—perhaps as a reserve force to support whatever they plan to do at Regulus.”

  “Sir . . . The Agni negotiators say they only want a new home to settle. They specifically mentioned needing a place to set down their ships in order to repair them fully after the damage they sustained in battle. If they are a refugee fleet, those ships, plus the few that settled here on Regulus I, may be all they have. 88 Leonis may be the first safe haven they’ve found to let them repair them all. It would explain why they’ve come with less force in each encounter.”

  “Until and unless you can secure a peace agreement, Jim, we can’t afford to presume that. Even if it’s true, that makes them desperate, willing to fight. These ships at 88 Leo could do a lot of damage to the Federation settlement in the system. Or they could be sent to reinforce the Agni there at Regulus. Our working theory is that they’ve modified their warp drive to dive deep into subspace, into a deeper domain than our sensors can reach. If we can’t track them, we can’t stop them before they get to Regulus. And that many ships invading the system at once could be devastating.

  “Jim, the success of your negotiations could be the only thing that will prevent a war against an enemy that could strike from anywhere without warning.”

  Once Wesley signed off, Kirk found himself reflecting on the part the commodore hadn’t mentioned. If hostilities did break out, it could cost many Regulan lives—but unless the Agni were far more numerous than they appeared, the numbers would inevitably favor the Federation. In the long term, Regulus would not be lost—but saving it might require driving the Agni to the brink of extinction. And that would cost the Federation something more intangible, but just as precious.

  “Only if the negotiations fail,” Kirk said to his reflection in the darkened screen. He held his own gaze emphatically. “So don’t fail.”

  Nubicuculia, Hearthside

  “We are concerned about the discovery of your shipyard at 88 Leonis,” Kirk said to the three Agni negotiators. The diplomatic parties on both sides of the window had reconvened, though the Regulan group had been joined by Colonel Orloff, who had insisted on sitting in as an observer upon hearing of the shipyard. For her benefit as much as Starfleet’s, Kirk had chosen to address that issue right off the bat. “As you are aware, that system also holds a Federation settlement, and while its inhabitants have no use for the third planet, its proximity to their world requires us to seek assurances as to the intentions of the facility. You said before that you only wanted a place to rest and repair your ships. If that is the only purpose of the shipyard facility, we are willing to allow you to remain there at least long enough to complete repairs and resupply, and to negotiate a longer stay if you desire. As a condition, we would require your cooperation in allowing automated probes to inspect your shipyard and confirm that its purpose is nonmilitary.”

  Diaz got to work on processing Kirk’s words through the translator. This time, she had brought a portable computer with her to enhance the translation console’s processing power, saying it was faster than relying on the subspace link with the Sacagawea’s computers in orbit. She frowned as she worked the controls on the boxy gray unit. “Anything wrong, Ensign?” Adebayo asked.

  Diaz cleared her throat. “Just . . . perfecting the calibrations, sir. We can’t afford any mistakes, after all.”

  Regardless of her extra caution, the request did not appear to go over well with the Agni, if Kirk was any judge of their body language. The response came from Protector, also not a good sign. “ ‘Again cold beings attempt to claim control of our realm. You are not welcome in our places. Our terms are that you leave this world, not that you enter our other world.’ ”

  Kirk was puzzled. “You said yourselves that a place could not belong to anyone. There is no need for impenetrable barriers between our peoples. We wish merely to establish trust—but that has to go both ways. If we can be allowed to inspect your shipyard, to verify its intentions, it will help us build that trust.”

  “ ‘Observing our ships would give you an advantage over us. We will no longer allow cold beings to dictate what we do. We will control our own realm, and we will defend against cold beings who intrude on it—just as you have against us. It is all you understand.’ ”

  Kirk sighed, exchanging looks with his fellow negotiators. “It feels like we’re suddenly going backward.”

  “That is often the case in negotiations,” T’Zeri told him. “Allow me.”

  The mature Vulcan woman stepped forward to address the Agni. “As we have discussed before, the people of Regulus have a tradition of welcoming newcomers. We are not averse to your colonization of Hearthside. But your demand that we vacate it is difficult to honor.

  “I would like to propose an alternative. Rather than abandoning the aerial cities, we could move them to latitudes well removed from your ground facilities, so that they will not pass near enough overhead to pose an immediate threat. This will limit our access to many of the richest bacterial blooms, but in return, we suggest that you could harvest the bacteria at those latitudes and deliver them to our cities for processing. You have already expressed a willingness to perform the collection, processing, and interplanetary delivery for us in exchange for our departure. This proposal would require you to be involved only in collection, which would make it a smaller concession for you.

  “If you accept this proposition, we could then negotiate a gradual withdrawal of our population over time, if that continues to be your preference. However, it is our hope that through our cooperation, we may learn to trust one another and be mutually content to remain on the same planet.”

  Beside Kirk, Colonel Orloff crossed her arms, shaking her head in wordless disapproval. She began to pace, pausing by Diaz’s station and watching idly as the ensign completed encodin
g the translation. Her icy blue eyes then went to the Agni, who were reacting to T’Zeri’s proposal with renewed agitation. “I don’t think they liked that,” Orloff murmured.

  Diaz glanced up at the colonel, who gave her a tight, apologetic smile and moved away to let her concentrate on translating Speaker’s response. The ensign spoke hesitantly, uncomfortable with the words. “ ‘We have already made our terms clear. We will not live with cold beings. You cannot be trusted. You will leave this planet. If you leave voluntarily, we will provide the chemicals you need. If you do not, we will remove you by force, and you will get no more chemicals.’ ”

  Orloff caught Kirk’s gaze, a vindicated look in her eyes. But the captain’s puzzlement remained. He stood and moved toward Speaker, hoping to make some sort of connection with a fellow leader across the barriers of biology and environment. “You must realize that if you force us to fight for the resources we need, you will inevitably lose. You may cost us a great deal in the fight, but we can bring reinforcements from many other worlds, and you will lose far more in the long term. Your species may not even survive. That’s not what we want, and I can’t believe it’s what you want.

  “I understand why you mistrust us. The fear of the unknown is a universal trait. It helps keep us alive. And your experience has taught you that there is often good reason for that fear.

  “But equally important for our survival is fascination with the unknown—the willingness to see its possibilities and embrace them. My species, humanity, has always had an inborn drive to explore the unknown, to find ways to live in realms that were alien, even hostile to us—from deserts and mountains on our own world to the emptiness of space. It was that need to move beyond our starting point that let us thrive when our environments changed and less adaptable species went extinct. Your people have had the same experience—you survived the death of your homeworld by moving out into the unknown, the hostile cold of space. You must see, as I do, that the unknown, for all its very real dangers, contains hope and opportunity as well.

  “Your people and mine face a new frontier now. We face each other. And we can both survive that entry into the unknown if we’re willing to look for the opportunities instead of just the dangers. If we listen to our hopes instead of our fears.”

  Kirk could see in the window’s reflections that Adebayo was smiling broadly, and even T’Zeri looked impressed by his speech. Orloff merely crossed her arms, a dismissive sneer on her face. As for Diaz, Kirk realized she was blinking away tears. He tried not to let it go to his head.

  The Agni, however, did not seem to react positively. They continued to gesticulate intensely, puffing out and retracting the sacs at the ends of their horns with increasing speed. It seemed as if Protector was arguing with Speaker and Observer . . . and Speaker looked subdued, perhaps even dejected, upon finally ceding the floor to Protector.

  Diaz cleared her throat, wiped her eyes, and after throwing nervous glances toward Kirk and Orloff, spoke with difficulty as she interpreted Protector’s words. “ ‘You say . . . we cannot survive a fight. We do not agree. We have ships you cannot see coming. We have weapons you cannot defend against.’ ” She hesitated. “ ‘Do not think you understand the Agni, or that you think the way we do. We have seen the madness of cold life too often. It would be a mercy to destroy you.’ ”

  Orloff stepped forward. “You heard the captain. You don’t have enough ships or weapons to hold us off forever.”

  “Colonel, please,” T’Zeri said.

  The human woman took a deep breath. “My apologies, Councillor.”

  But Diaz had already translated Orloff’s words, and now she could barely be heard as she interpreted Protector’s reply. “ ‘You . . . do not know how many ships we have. But you will.’ ”

  “That does it,” said Orloff. “Captain, I think we can officially declare these talks a failure. There could be Agni ships warping toward us even now. I suggest we return to orbit and prepare our defense.”

  “Wait, wait,” Kirk said. “Something isn’t right about this.” He still couldn’t believe a leader like Speaker would so cavalierly ignore the safety of their people. Speaker’s body language still struck him as conveying resignation, possibly even disappointment, rather than hostility. He couldn’t know for certain, but after hours of observing the Agni through these negotiations, his intuition was telling him that something was off.

  He strode over to Diaz. “Ensign, run a diagnostic on the portable computer, the workstation, everything. Are you sure our words are being translated correctly?”

  As Diaz ran the check, she avoided meeting Kirk’s eyes. Why? he wondered. It was unlike her to fear being chastised for an error. She had never lacked for confidence, and she had always welcomed his advice, even his criticism, in the past, much as he had valued the guidance of captains like Garrovick and Wesley.

  She did finally look up at him as she answered, “Confirmed, sir. The equipment, the protocols . . . it all checks out.”

  “So they heard everything we said.”

  “Yes, sir.” But her eyes darted away as she said it.

  They darted toward Orloff. Why Orloff?

  “It’s settled, then,” the colonel said. “Time we put an end to this farce.”

  “No, wait,” Kirk insisted, his voice growing firmer. “We need a recess. Ensign, ask them to wait. Let’s all take some time to process this.”

  “An excellent suggestion, Captain,” said T’Zeri. “The interval might allow emotions to cool and reason to return.”

  “I can’t afford to waste any more time,” Orloff insisted. “I’m going back up to my fleet. They may be needed at any moment.”

  “You do that, Colonel,” Kirk said, holding her steadily in his gaze. “I don’t think you can do anything more down here.”

  * * *

  Once the Agni grudgingly agreed to stand by a while longer, Kirk led Kamisha Diaz into a small observation lounge nearby for a private conversation. The city had drifted into the planet’s night side by now, so all that could be seen were the lights of Nubicuculia’s other spherical modules and the halos they formed in the cloud bank that engulfed them. “Too bad,” Diaz said. “At the right times, when there’s a break in the clouds and haze, the night sky is really beautiful. So many stars.”

  “For me, it was the sky above my parents’ farm in Iowa,” Kirk told her. “As soon as I learned that other stars had people living around them, looking back toward me, I felt an irresistible desire to go and meet them. To visit every single star I could see.”

  She gave him a knowing smile. “How many have you crossed off your list so far?”

  “Not enough. Never enough.” He studied her. “Ensign, what’s really going on in there? Why did Colonel Orloff come today?”

  Diaz turned to look out at the empty haze, as if suddenly fascinated by it. “I wouldn’t presume to say, sir. I . . . I serve Starfleet, not the Defense Force.”

  He moved around to see her face. “But you feel loyal to Regulus. Just as she does.”

  She thought for a long moment. “This is my home. We have to protect it.”

  “At any cost?”

  “Sir, are you accusing me of something?”

  He was surprised at the suddenness of it—and heartened. “I think, Ensign . . . that you’re accusing yourself of something. That you’re not sure where your loyalties lie, or what the right choice is . . . and you’re afraid you’ve made the wrong one.”

  Another loaded silence. “And what if I have?”

  He put a hand on her shoulder. “Then there’s still time to make it right.”

  Sobbing, Diaz fell into a seat. Kirk sat down beside her, a hand on her shoulder, as she confessed. “The colonel convinced me . . . to distort the translations. Make both sides think the other was being belligerent and unreasonable.”

  “Sabotage the peace talks so we’d believe the only path left was war.”

  “She believes it’s the only way to protect Regulus, sir.
And . . . she’s not wrong that they were the aggressors. We have grounds for our grievances.”

  “Yes, you do,” Kirk said with deep sympathy. “But do you really think starting a war will heal that pain?”

  She winced. “No. No, it would only make things worse,” she confessed. “And Harlie would be ashamed of me for doing this in her name. She cherished how welcoming we were. I should’ve listened to the things she said in life, not just how I felt about her death.”

  Kirk smiled. “Sounds like you’ve already worked through most of this on your own.”

  “By about halfway through the session in there, sir, I knew I’d made the biggest mistake of my career. But I was too deep to pull out, and the colonel was right there . . .” She looked up at him. “I guess I’ve blown my whole Starfleet career now, huh? Just as well I’m already back home.”

  He patted her shoulder. “Don’t hand in your communicator yet, Ensign. You can still help us resolve this, if we go back in there and let the Agni know what we really said.”

  * * *

  The only thing to do was to come clean entirely—to confess to the Agni that Colonel Orloff had corrupted the translation process and that the two sides had not heard each other’s actual words. “We were both fooled,” Kirk told the Agni, “and the one responsible will be held accountable. But we have a chance to repair the situation before it’s too late.”

  Luckily, Diaz’s computers had recorded the original statements, enabling them to be replayed with a correct translation. The Agni had, in fact, confirmed that the ships on 88 Leonis were the bulk of their surviving fleet, with no other settlements in Federation space. They had been receptive to allowing an inspection to confirm this, in exchange for permission to remain. Upon finally hearing T’Zeri’s genuine compromise proposal, followed by Kirk’s exhortation for understanding, Protector showed resistance, but was overruled by Speaker and Observer.