by Dayton Ward
“You can’t,” Crusher said, “not without triggering a mass panic.”
“And you certainly do not communicate to the people your own scheme to use such a weapon against your enemy; to employ the very horrific tactics your adversary would use against you. We continued our training and final preparations as the ship was readied for launch. We would travel to the past, and seek to end the war before it could engulf both our peoples.”
Shaking her head in disbelief, Chen said, “You’re going to destroy your own planet?” Could it possibly be true? All this time, Jodis had intended to turn the Arrow on those who had built it? “Are you insane?”
Jodis did not answer, his attention once more on the workstation. When a tone emitted from one of the consoles, he smiled again. “Your captain is most persistent.”
“Talk to him, Jodis,” Crusher pleaded. “If anyone can help you figure out a peaceful solution to all of this, it’s Captain Picard.”
Turning from the tower, Jodis said, “From our brief conversations, I have grasped that your captain is virtuous and principled. I regret firing on your ship, but I could not afford to let him interfere with what we must do here.”
“Just talk to him,” Chen said. “Tell him what you want. Let him at least try to help. You can’t possibly want to actually do this.”
Bnira said, “Such staunch devotion.” She looked to Jodis. “Perhaps we should listen to him.”
“Perhaps,” Jodis said, his fingers moving across the console. “However, he will first listen to us. They will all listen to us.”
30
Time was running out.
Picard tapped the arms of his command chair, studying on the bridge viewscreen the Arrow as it moved through space. In the distance but growing closer with each passing moment was the green-brown world Henlona. The weapon ship had proceeded on its course through the Canborek system with only token resistance from Raqilan ships. Sensors showed that others were coming, traveling inbound from patrol routes or other assignments in a last-ditch effort to save their home planet from annihilation. Within minutes, a hastily assembled fleet of warships would be converging on the Arrow. Would it arrive in time?
Will it matter if they do?
“The vessel is slowing,” reported Worf, who still stood at the tactical station behind Picard’s left shoulder. “Sensors are detecting a targeting scanner in operation, aimed at the planet.” After a pause, he said, “Correction. The scanner appears to be targeting the planet’s moon.”
“What about the particle cannon?” Picard asked.
The first officer replied, “It is active and at increased power levels.”
“Conn, time to intercept?”
Seated in front of him, Lieutenant Joanna Faur replied, “Three minutes, twelve seconds, captain. Flight control systems are all working normally.”
Picard offered up a brief message of thanks to the prowess of Geordi La Forge and his engineering staff, who had managed to restore the Enterprise’s damaged or compromised navigation systems and give the starship a chance to chase the Arrow. “What about weapons?”
“Commander La Forge reports those systems should be online within five minutes.”
It would be close. The Enterprise would arrive on scene unable to defend itself, with the Arrow settling into whatever final positioning it required to bring its primary weapon to bear on Henlona. Could he bluff Jodis long enough to buy his engineers the extra minutes they needed to extract yet another miracle from wherever they conjured such things?
“Captain,” Worf said, “the Arrow definitely is targeting the moon, and I’m detecting a power spike from the primary weapon.”
“Is the moon inhabited?” asked Picard, dreading the answer.
The Klingon replied, “Sensors show signs of habitation, both on the surface and underground, with approximately two hundred thousand life-forms.”
“Hail them again,” Picard snapped. Why would Jodis be targeting his own people? It made no sense. “Engineering, I need weapons now.” The Enterprise was the only thing standing between the Arrow and the moon with its defenseless inhabitants, but he knew they still were too far out of range.
Faur pointed to the viewscreen. “They’re firing!”
The Arrow’s forward edge glowed red before the beam surged forward. Without being asked, Worf adjusted the screen’s image to show a pale brown orb hanging in space just as the particle beam struck it. The display was clear enough for Picard to see soil and rock pushed outward in all directions as the energy beam drilled into the moon’s surface. He gripped the arms of his chair, bracing himself to watch the moon’s destruction along with the poor souls who called it home.
“Wait,” Worf said. “The energy readings are indicating tectonic disruption, but the effects are not on a scale sufficient to destroy the moon.” Seconds later, he added, “I am detecting seismic disturbances, but that is all.”
“Earthquakes?” Picard asked. On the screen, the particle beam faded, leaving behind an immense, dark hole bored into the moon’s surface. “It’s not possible that he miscalculated.” Rising from his chair, he nodded as he comprehended what he had just witnessed. “It was a demonstration.”
“The particle cannon is acquiring a new target,” Worf said. “It’s Henlona, sir, and now I am picking up a wideband broadcast message. It is being directed at the planet and transmitted on multiple frequencies.”
“Let’s see it,” Picard said. On the screen, the Arrow disappeared, replaced by a close-up image of Jodis. The Raqilan’s face was unreadable, though there was a glint of determination in his eyes.
“People of Henlona, I am Jodis. Like my parents before me and theirs, as well, I have spent my entire adult life in service to the Raqilan. When I first joined our military, it was my sincere desire that I be the last of my family ever to fight in a war. When I was given command of this vessel, I saw in it an opportunity to make my dream into reality.”
“The message is being transmitted toward the Golvonek homeworld, as well,” Worf reported, “though they will not receive it for nearly thirty minutes.”
“This ship, as originally envisioned, was a means of ending our war. In many cycles still to come, it will be seen as a tool with which to forge a lasting peace between our peoples. Of course, peace extracted under threat of obliteration is something less than an ideal for which we should strive. It is a testament to how far the war will push all of us, that such a measure is seen as not only necessary, but also desirable. You must understand that, from where I have come, the war has lingered for far longer than you now know it. Both Henlona and the planet of our enemy have suffered the brunt of unremitting conflict. We have reached a point where we survive merely to fight. Our attempts at peace have failed, and if we were to reach some final truce, it would not matter, for we will have succeeded in destroying that for which we have fought so long and with such obsession.” Jodis paused, his expression turning somber. “Even in the future, generations from now, we still do not know who might win our war, but the truth is that neither side will emerge victorious. We have doomed ourselves to eventual extinction.”
“Captain,” said Glynn Dygan from the ops station, “sensors are picking up the approach of thirteen vessels. They all appear to be of Raqilan design, sir. Based on their defenses, I would classify them as battleships of some sort.”
“Analysis, Mister Worf,” Picard ordered. “Are they powerful enough to take on the Arrow?” He held out little hope that the fight might actually destroy the weapon ship, but any sort of delay or distraction might prove useful.
The first officer replied, “From a technological standpoint, they are no match, but given sufficient time, they may be able to mount a successful counterattack.”
“What you now see before you is the manifestation of a single, final, frantic attempt to secure victory,” Jodis continued. “Of course, such triump
h, attained in the far-off future, would be hollow. The only way such a feat could truly have meaning is if there is a civilization to benefit from the accomplishment. As that would be all but impossible, given the unrelenting nature of the war as it will continue in cycles to come, there remained but two options: fight until there was nothing left, or somehow find a way to avoid war altogether. This ship, the Poklori gil dara, is the means by which the second option can be achieved.”
He paused, looking down at something not visible on the screen, and Picard noted that sadness seemed now to grip him.
“What you now see before you, this ship and the weapon I now control, is what the Golvonek were meant to see. It is the last thing they were supposed to see before I carried out my orders to destroy their planet.” Once more, he stopped, and this time, he shook his head. “Do you understand how callous one must become to justify obliterating an entire civilization—a world teeming with innocents who have no idea what the future holds—to prevent a war which will end up devouring us all? And yet, here I stand, my hands ready to deploy a weapon of unparalled power, on the very people who gave birth to this monstrosity. Our people, yours and mine. We are responsible for this abomination. Think about that for a time, while I consider my next action.”
Without warning, the transmission ended and Jodis’s visage disappeared, replaced again by the Arrow, in the distance but now much closer than it had been just moments earlier.
“He’s quite the attention-getter,” observed Faur.
“Captain,” Worf said, “we are being hailed by one of the Raqilan ships. It is Envoy Dnovlat.”
“I can only imagine what she wants to talk about,” Picard said. “On screen.” The moment the frequency was opened and before he could formulate any sort of greeting, the female Raqilan was standing so close to the visual pickup that he thought she might actually crawl through the viewscreen and onto the bridge.
“Captain Picard! You must help us! Surely you see that Jodis has lost all reasonable measure of sanity?”
Dnovlat moved aside, revealing Fleet Legate Mynlara, much to Picard’s surprise. “Captain, I agree with the envoy. While the Golvonek obviously do not want the weapon used against us, neither are we prepared to see it utilized against the Raqilan. That is madness. If Jodis will not listen to reason, then the ship must be destroyed.” She turned to Dnovlat. “The envoy saw to it that my crew was rescued from our crippled vessel. It was an act of compassion that only serves as proof that we can work together to overcome our differences and stop this war, before we travel too far down the path of mutual destruction.”
“The fleet legate gives me more credit than I deserve. It was vessels under her command that began assisting damaged Raqilan ships first, Captain.”
Picard nodded. “So, it seems you now have a common foe. What will you do if and when you vanquish your shared enemy?”
“I cannot speak for my leadership, Captain,” replied Dnovlat, “but if this incident does not provide the proper motivation to seek a permanent truce, then perhaps we are beyond redemption and Jodis should do as he so desires, but I have to believe we have a chance to finally make the correct choices, for all our people. Jodis is about to rob us of that opportunity.”
Stepping closer to the screen, Picard replied,“Envoy, I believe that neither you nor I possess the firepower necessary to disable that vessel, let alone destroy it. Besides, based on what I observed, it seems to me that Jodis is in total command of his faculties.”
“So, do you believe Jodis capable of carrying out his threat?” asked Mynlara.
“At this point,” Picard said, “I believe that only Jodis can answer that question.”
“Engineering to bridge,” said the voice of Geordi La Forge, interrupting the conversation. “Captain, weapons control has been restored. You’ve got everything at your command.”
Buoyed by the news, Picard replied, “Excellent work, Commander. Stand by, as the next few minutes may be . . . interesting. Bridge out.” Looking over his shoulder to Worf, he said, “Number One, ready all phasers and quantum torpedoes. Conn, maneuver us between the Arrow and the planet.”
“Captain, what are you doing?” asked Dnovlat.
“Whatever I can, Envoy.”
Would it be enough?
The question taunted Picard.
* * *
“Wait!”
The hatch leading onto the engineering deck opened, and T’Ryssa Chen had only enough time to recognize Lieutenant Kirsten Cruzen lunging through the doorway before she threw up her hands, hoping to head off another firefight in the room.
“Don’t shoot!”
Cruzen, to her credit, did not fire the phaser that she had aimed at Jodis. Behind her, Lieutenant Aneta Šmrhová and a team of Enterprise security officers, each of them brandishing phaser rifles, entered the room and fanned out, forming a wedge with Cruzen at its center.
Jodis, like Bnira, had taken the wiser course of holding his own weapon with its barrel raised toward the overhead, his free hand visible to the new arrivals. “I do not wish to fight you.”
“That’s great,” Šmrhová said, gesturing with her phaser rifle. “Prove it to me by dropping those weapons.”
As Lieutenant T’Sona and Ensign Regnis collected the surrendered pulse rifles, Cruzen moved toward Doctor Crusher and the wounded Rennan Konya and Tamala Harstad, removing the satchel she had slung over her left shoulder and handing it to Crusher. “How’s Rennan?”
Taking the satchel and opening it, Crusher was relieved to see the medical kit Cruzen had retrieved from the shuttlecraft. “He’s holding steady, but we need to get him to the Enterprise.”
“Jodis and Bnira are getting set to destroy their own planet,” Chen replied. “We’re waiting to see if he goes through with it.” She gestured toward the Raqilan. “I don’t think even he knows what he’s going to do.”
“Of course I know,” Jodis replied. Keeping his hands raised in deference to the pair of phaser rifles, Šmrhová’s and Ensign Chapman’s, still trained on him, he gestured toward the central tower and the image of Henlona displayed upon one of its monitors. “Do you actually believe I want to exterminate my entire civilization?”
“You were ready to do that to the Golvonek, weren’t you?” asked Šmrhová.
“Oh, right,” Chen said. “That’s another new development. These guys are working for the Golvonek. Or they were, or will be.” She sighed. “Whatever.”
“Spies?” Cruzen asked. “Traitors?”
“We are not traitors,” Bnira replied. “We are sympathizers. There were many of us who wanted to end the war and achieve peace for everyone, not betray our own people.”
Šmrhová’s expression illustrated her skepticism. “This whole time, you’ve been . . . what, exactly? Waiting for the right moment to tell us all of this?”
“We have been prisoners since the moment of our revival,” Jodis said. “We did not know whom to trust, and therefore could not take the chance of the ship falling into the wrong hands. That is still a concern, but we have taken steps to prevent or at least minimize that possibility.”
Chen said, “I don’t think the people down on your planet are buying your story. It might have something to do with you pointing that big giant gun at them.” She waved in the direction of the particle cannon. “It’s just a guess, though.”
“Fool,” Jodis said. “Do you honestly believe we plan to murder our entire world? Do you think us so evil?”
From where she knelt next to Konya, holding a tricorder she had taken from the medical kit, Crusher said, “Based on the events of the past hour or so, you’re not showing us much to make us think any differently.”
“It was necessary to maintain an illusion,” Jodis said, pointing to the monitors on the central tower. “As we speak, leaders from around my planet are attempting to make contact, begging me not to fire.” He wal
ked toward the console, tapping one of the displays with a finger. “Do you see this? It is programmed to monitor communications to and from Henlona, and it is already receiving transmissions from one of the Raqilan ships. Fleet Legate Mynlara is aboard that ship, pleading with our leadership to make a new overture toward peace with the Golvonek. In time, both governments will be desperate to talk with one another.”
“Okay, then you’ve made your point,” Chen said. “So, dial back the aggression, and give them the time to work it out for themselves.”
Jodis shook his head. “Not yet. We must remain here, ready to carry out the threat, until our leaders take action.”
Cruzen asked, “What’s to stop them from doing just enough to appease you so that you’ll stand down? Then they arrest you, seize the ship, and pick up where they left off by turning it on the Golvonek. You have to know someone’s thinking about that down there, right?”
“There will be no seizing this vessel,” Bnira replied. “We have taken steps to prevent that. No one will be able to use the ship for their own agenda.”
“Why don’t I like the way that sounds?” Chen asked.
A new alert tone sounded from the console, and Jodis turned to study it, his features clouding with renewed irritation. “Your captain. Again.”
“What’s he done now?” asked Crusher.
“He has maneuvered your ship into position ahead of us,” Jodis replied. “I admire his bravery and principles.”
Chen considered this new development. What did the captain hope to gain by using the Enterprise as a shield against the Arrow? One strike from the ship’s particle cannon at full strength likely would be more than enough to destroy the starship. “He doesn’t know you’re basically trying to bluff your own people as well as the Golvonek. If you don’t tell him what’s going on, he’s liable to fire everything he has at you.”