Star Trek - Blish, James - 06

by 06(lit)

  The explanation would have to wait.

  "Let me by," he said urgently. "I must help her."

  "No," said Hodin, quietly. "We do not want any of your medicines."

  "But she's very ill. Look at her-she needs help, and at once."

  "We are grateful for her illness. Thank you, Cap-tain. You have done more than you know for us."

  Kirk thought they must be mad. He looked at Odo-na. Her eyelids fluttered. Hodin spoke gravely.

  "My dear daughter, you have done well." He took the limp form from Kirk and turned away. The depu-tation closed in around the baffled Captain.

  "Guard him well, we shall need him for a long time," called Hodin over his shoulder.

  In total perplexity Kirk marched along with his guard. What had happened to his crew? This corridor along which they were now walking was unfamiliar; not aboard the Enterprise, then. Well, where was the Enterprise? Why did this diplomat want his daughter to die? Perhaps he could take comfort from the fact that he alone had been tricked; perhaps crew and ship were safe elsewhere. They drew near to the "Cap-tain's Quarters" and he heard voices. He halted, despite the guards' effort to press him along.

  "I must see him," came the faint tone of Odona.

  "Yes, yes. But now you must lie still." Hodin's voice had lost some of its smoothness. "Do you feel great pain?"

  "My arms... and... thighs..."

  Avid, yet tender, Hodin said, "What is it like?"

  "It is like... like when we have seen that the people have no hope, Father. You felt... great despair. Your heart was heavy because you could do nothing. It is like that."

  "You have great courage, my daughter. I am very proud of you." Hodin closed the door softly behind him. Kirk stepped toward him anxiously.

  "Let me see her."

  "Not yet."

  "You don't know what illness she has. Maybe I can tell."

  Hodin looked at him gravely. "We know. She has Vegan choriomeningitis."

  "Oh, my God." Kirk stepped back; "If she is not treated at once, within twenty-four hours, she will die. I know; it nearly killed me."

  Hodin nodded. "Yes, Captain. We learned of your medical history, as we did the plan of a starship, during the negotiations. We brought you here to ob-tain the microorganisms."

  "So that's how my arm was hurt."

  "My apologies. As you have learned, we have no medical practitioners. We were unforgivably awk-ward to have inflicted pain on you..."

  "You mean you deliberately infected your own daughter..." Overcome with fury, Kirk turned on his guards. His right fist shot out and caught one in the midriff; as he doubled up with a grunt, Kirk lashed out at the other and leaped for the door of Odona's sickroom. But the first man had recovered and dived at Kirk's feet, bringing him down; the second guard pulled him roughly up and dragged him back to Hodin.

  "We do not wish to hurt you. You will see her as soon as we are certain she is susceptible."

  "You are mad!" cried Kirk in frustrated rage.

  "No, Captain. We are desperate. Bring him along to the Council Chamber."

  The chamber was a scene of excited chatter, the deputies of Gideon's government descending upon Ho-din, demanding, "How is she? What has happened?"

  Hodin waved them to their places around the table. Kirk was brought forward between his guards.

  "Your report to the Federation was a tissue of lies," he said angrily. "You described Gideon as a Para-dise."

  "And so it was... once. A long time ago it was as we described it. In the germ-free atmosphere of Gideon people flourished in physical and spiritual perfection, Captain. The life-span was extended and extended, until finally death comes only to the very ancient, when regeneration is no longer possible.

  These gifts, Captain, have been our reward for re-specting life."

  "Most people would envy you."

  "We no longer find this condition enviable. Births have increased our population until Gideon is en-cased in a living mass of beings without rest, without peace, without joy."

  "Then why have you not introduced measures to make your people sterile?"

  "They do not work," said Hodin simply. "All known techniques are defeated by our organs' capacity to regenerate, like my daughter's hand."

  "There are other ways to prevent conception, how-ever."

  "This is our dilemma, Captain. Life is sacred to our people. This is the one unshakable tradition. Yet we pay for the gifts that the worship of life has brought us, and the price is very heavy. Because of our over-whelming love of life we have the gifts of regener-ation and longevity."

  "And misery."

  "That is the contradiction."

  "The reality, Hodin."

  Hodin flinched. He turned his back for a moment, then walked back and forth, the tortured confusion of his mind all too apparent.

  "What are we to do? We cannot deny the truth of what has shaped us as we are. We are not capable of interfering with the Creation we love so deeply. It is against our natures."

  "Yet you can kill your own daughter. How can you Justify that?"

  "We are not killing her. It is the disease that will or will not kill her; this is not under our control. The opportunity came to us, perhaps as a gift; we have seized upon it to readjust the life cycle of this planet. My daughter had hoped you might be brought to feel the agony of Gideon, Captain. It is impossible; no stranger could realize the horror of existence.

  "I will not ask you to understand my personal grief; nor will I parade it to gain your cooperation." Hodin had stopped pacing, and faced Kirk proudly.

  "My daughter has won my pride, as she has always had my love. She has freely chosen to take this chance with her life, as all the people of Gideon are free to choose. And she cannot be sure she is right."

  This virus is rare. Where do you intend to get it?" said Kirk, grappling with the first of these problems that he felt able to handle.

  The smooth diplomatic mask slipped over Hodin's face. Kirk was suddenly wary.

  "Your blood will provide it, Captain. You will be staying here."

  Kirk slammed the table with the flat of his hand.

  "Not me, Hodin. You have other ways to solve your problem. I do not offer my Me for this purpose at all; I have other commitments. And I have other hopes for Odona than death."

  "My daughter hoped you would love her-enough to stay."

  Kirk looked hard at him. "What passed between your daughter and me was between us alone."

  "She pleaded with you to stay."

  "You watched us, didn't you?"

  Hodin bowed his head in admission. "We are des-perate. And privacy is perhaps of less concern to us than to you."

  "I'm desperate too, you..."

  Kirk was interrupted by a buzzer. A message was delivered to Hodin, who raised his head in proud sorrow.

  "You may go to her now. She is calling for you. You cannot leave quite yet, Captain, can you?"

  "Spock to Enterprise. Spock to Enterprise."

  "Scott here, Mr. Spock."

  "Mr. Scott, I am speaking to you from the bridge of the Enterprise."

  "Ye're what, man?"

  "Speaking from the bridge of the Enterprise, Mr. Scott.

  "Those were the coordinates you gave me!"

  "They were correct. I am apparently on an exact duplicate of the Enterprise."

  "What's that? Is it in orbit?"

  "You could say so; Gideon is in orbit, this ship is on Gideon."

  "Weel, that's a beginning, Spock. What about the Captain?"

  "I'm sure he's somewhere here, Mr. Scott. I'm pick-ing up life readings locally. Spock over and out."

  Kirk knelt by the side of the bunk where Odona lay, flushed with fever, her cloud of silvery black hair tarnished and lifeless. He looked up at Hodin.

  "If you do not let me get Dr. McCoy it will soon be too late for her."

  "We have told you, Captain Kirk. It is her wish and mine that there be no interference with the natural development of this preci
ous virus."

  "What is the matter with you? If she lives, her blood would contain the virus just as mine does. She doesn't have to die."

  "She must die. Our people must believe in this escape."

  "She is so young..."

  "Because she is young she will be an inspiration to our people. Don't you see, Captain, she will become a symbol for others to follow? In time, Gideon will once again be the Paradise it was..."

  Odona's sigh pierced the shell of exaltation Hodin had erected around his consciousness. Kirk smoothed her blazing forehead; Hodin stood by her bedside in a state of misery. But Odona's weary eyes only gazed at Kirk.

  "I... am glad you are here. Is my time short?"

  "Very short," Kirk whispered.

  "I asked you to make the journey last forever." She smiled wanly. "It began here, didn't it?"

  Kirk spoke very clearly, hoping to penetrate the feverish haze that surrounded her senses.

  "The journey can continue. If you will let me, I can make you well."

  "Lake your arm?"

  He nodded hopefully. She lay still, expressionless. Then, with a slight cry, she raised her arms to em-brace him. The delicacy that had given her such grace in health now gave her too much fragility in his arms. He willed her with all his might to agree to be cured.

  "I am not afraid of... what will happen. I am not at all afraid," she murmured feebly against his shoul-der. "It's only that now... I wish it could be... with you... forever..." Her voice sank. Gently Kirk laid her unconscious head on the pillow.

  The door closed with a decisive snap.

  "I am glad to see you looking so well, Captain. Apparently Starfleet's analysis was correct after all." Spock's cool words cut into the air.

  Kirk whirled; it was Spock. "I'm fine," he managed to say. "But we do have a patient." He lifted Odona from the bed. Hodin stood, paralyzed.

  "Spock to Enterprise. Spock to Enterprise Three to beamup Mr.Scott," Spock slipped the words out with machine-gun speed.

  Three-? Er-same coordinates, Mr. Spock?"

  Scott had obviously grasped the need for haste.

  Hodin plunged at Spock with an inarticulate sound of fury.

  "Your Excellency, please do not interfere." As the sparkles replaced the three figures, Mr. Spock's last, "I already have enough to explain to upper echelons, Prime Minister," hung in the air over Hodin's impotent rage.

  "I am... cured?" Odona's tone wavered between disappointment and wonder.

  "Completely." Kirk lifted her to her feet and stood smiling down at her brightened eyes.

  "Then I can now take your place on Gideon," she said gravely.

  "Is that what you want to do?" Kirk was very serious, yet a small smile crossed his face as he watched her. She touched his cheek tenderly, lightly.

  "That is what I must do. I am needed there."

  Kirk kissed her hand, a gesture of salute to her gallantry-and a farewell. "People like you are need-ed everywhere, Odona."

  They walked side by side into the corridor.

  "Will you sign this, please, sir?" A young crewman held out a clipboard to Kirk. He scrawled his initials, and in the bustle of traffic in the corridor he saw her watching a couple stroll hand in hand toward the lounge. As she caught his eye, the wistfulness in her face vanished. She smiled.

  "It's different from our Enterprise."

  "It's almost exactly the same," said Kirk. "Only this one works." He added wryly, "And it's crowded."

  She laughed. "Does it seem so to you?"

  "It does now."

  "Excuse me, Captain, but before this young lady goes home we are obliged to devise some way to complete our mission. The Prime Minister, you may recall, was somewhat agitated when we last saw him." Spock was apologetic, but quite firm.

  Kirk clapped a hand to his head. "Foof, I was forgetting him. Call McCoy and Scott; we'll confer on the bridge."

  "Captain," said Spock very formally. "I beg leave to report that I have broken regulations. Starfleet Com-mand gave specific orders which I, upon my own responsibility, disobeyed. In view of Prime Minister Hodin's intransigence to date..."

  "If you mean father," said Odona, "he did not really want me to volunteer for this sickness at all. He will be grateful to have me back, and if I am carrying the virus, all will be well."

  "He wanted you to be a symbol for your people," said Kirk thoughtfully. "He was quite impassioned about that, Odona."

  "He had to have some way to live with himself, letting me die, Captain," said Odona gently. "I haven't died. Perhaps there may be some way to inspire our people, nevertheless."

  Spock was frowning into his console. "I wonder," he said. "There are many ways to gather public appro-val-besides the sacrifice of... er... young women."

  There was a silence; each of them cast about in his mind for alternatives. Hodin required something that would serve to call forth volunteers from his people for infection with a deadly disease; and this was a unique public relations problem for the crew of the Enterprise to consider.

  "In the old days of medicine..." began McCoy. "I seem to recall that there was some sort of signal... illness aboard, doctor required; I don't quite remem-ber..."

  Spock laughed. "Bravo, Doctor!" He punched rapid-ly at his console. "Here it is; a distress flag, flown by seagoing vessels... the design sounds simple enough."

  Uhura rose from her seat. "I'll see to it at once." She left the room quickly.

  "What is it? What are you doing?" Odona was unable to follow their rapid trains of thought. Kirk smiled to himself. This time her puzzlement was gen-uine.

  "What we propose, madame, is to send you home with a badge of honor," said Spock. "When you show it to your father, he can offer such badges to all your people who volunteer for the... service he so urgent-ly wishes to render them. This will make it a matter of pride to have such a badge in the family, and thus serve the same purpose as your death was designed to do."

  Uhura returned with a small flag, as described by Spock. Kirk took it from her, and going up to Odona, while the crew stood at full attention, he pinned it ceremoniously to her shoulder.

  "For service to Gideon above and beyond the call of duty," he intoned. He hesitated, then kissed her on both cheeks. "An old custom of some of our people," he said, smiling at her blush.

  "Will you stay on the ship?" she whispered.

  He looked at her quickly. In that moment he recog-nized the ambiguity of her question, and replied unmistakably.

  "On this ship, I will stay, Odona."

  She said wistfully, "Forever?"

  "Sometimes I think so," he said, very quietly. "But this is my ship, my dear." He struck at the intercom.

  "Kirk to Transporter Room. One to beam down to Gideon."

  Later, McCoy asked, "Captain, is the Federation really all that anxious to gain the membership of what is now more or less a plague planet?"

  "That," said Kirk, with a glance at Spock, "will be for the diplomats to decide."

  The End