Star Trek: Typhon Pact 06: Plagues of Night

by David R. George III

  “I didn’t say I couldn’t believe it,” Picard said. “Actually, your success doesn’t surprise me at all.”

  “Now you’re being very generous,” Ro told him. “But you probably had more to do with my making captain than I did.”

  “Nonsense,” Picard said, in a way that implied he would brook no argument. “Your abilities, your performance, and your leadership brought you to where you are now. Not me.”

  Ro nodded, fully aware that without the captain’s efforts on her behalf, she never would have been permitted to resume her career in Starfleet when Bajor had entered the Federation. Rather than contradict Picard, though, she instead asked if he would care for something to eat or drink. He asked for hot tea, which she ordered from the replicator, along with a glass of pooncheenee for herself. She handed the cup of tea to Picard, took the glass of reddish orange fruit juice for herself, and led him to the sitting area on the other side of her office. They sat together on the cushioned bench there.

  “So how has the transition to captain been for you?” Picard asked.

  “Honestly, things didn’t really change much for me,” Ro said. “I’d already been commanding Deep Space Nine for three and a half years at the time.”

  “So no alteration in your mind-set?” Picard asked. “No compulsion to recheck your work three times instead of two, to spend twice as much time second-guessing your decisions, that sort of thing?”

  “Well,” Ro said with a shrug, recalling that her advancement to the rank of captain had initially undermined the confidence she felt in her own abilities. “Is that common?”

  “I don’t know if it’s common,” Picard said. “But it seems to me that it’s not uncommon.”

  “Did you go through it?” Ro wanted to know.

  “That and more,” Picard said, and for the second time, the edges of his mouth curled upward.

  For a strange moment, Ro actually wondered if a Founder had infiltrated DS9 or Enterprise and masqueraded as Jean-Luc Picard. She could in no other way immediately account for the apparent change to his disposition. He seemed … lighter.

  Returning to their conversation, Ro asked, “Do you think you’ll go through that again when Starfleet Command finally makes you an admiral?”

  “Oh, I’ve made it quite clear that I have no intention of flying a desk for the rest of my Starfleet career,” Picard said. “However long or short that might be.”

  “Somehow I don’t see you walking away from the Enterprise anytime soon.” Even as Ro uttered the words, she understood that she didn’t necessarily believe them. As much as she’d always thought that Captain Picard belonged on the bridge of a starship, she sensed that, somehow, that might no longer hold true, despite his protestation to the contrary.

  “My circumstances have changed,” Picard said, as though echoing Ro’s thoughts. “I got married.”

  Ro felt her mouth open wide in surprise, and she made a conscious effort to close it. “Did this just happen?” she asked.

  “Almost three years ago now.”

  Ro’s jaw dropped open again. “Three years?” she said. “How have I not heard about this? This is a Starfleet space station. Ships dock here all the time. And I’m in touch with Command. You’d think somebody would have mentioned it.”

  “You don’t strike me as one for idle gossip,” Picard noted.

  “No, but …” As her voice trailed off, Ro realized her impoliteness. “Congratulations,” she said. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thank you,” Picard said. “I married Beverly Crusher.”

  Ro nodded. “There always did seem to be a spark between the two of you.”

  “Well, after many years and several false starts, we finally managed to fan that spark into a flame,” he said. “When it came down to it, it really didn’t take much at all, other than each of us being ready to share our lives in that way.” He paused enough to offer Ro another smile. “We have a son.”

  Ro’s mouth didn’t drop open again. Instead, she threw her head back and laughed, a merry sound that accurately captured the joy she felt.

  “That’s a new reaction,” Picard said.

  “I’m sorry, Captain,” Ro said. “I think it’s wonderful that you have a son, but I was just remembering back when I served aboard the Enterprise, when we were returning to the ship from Marlonia.” Along with Keiko O’Brien and Guinan, Ro and Picard had traveled aboard a shuttlecraft. When they’d become caught in an energy anomaly, the shuttle had broken up in space, and the Enterprise crew had needed to transport them to safety—only to find that the bodies of the four had been transmuted into their preadolescent selves, although their adult minds had remained intact.

  Picard offered a knowing chuckle of his own. “I trust René won’t be quite as precocious as I was when that happened.” Even in the body of a twelve-year-old, the captain had helped thwart the takeover of Enterprise by a band of renegade Ferengi.

  “He’s a Picard,” Ro said, “so you never know.”

  “I suppose not,” said Picard. “But we still have time before he reaches that age. He’ll be two next week.”

  “Do you have a picture?” Ro asked.

  “I’m afraid that I don’t,” Picard said. “But he is on board the Enterprise, and I hoped you might like to meet him.”

  “Of course,” Ro said, trying to imagine the captain himself at such a young age.

  “The Enterprise won’t be heading to the Gamma Quadrant until our Romulan counterparts arrive,” Picard said. “That’s why I’ve come to your office: to invite you to join Beverly and me for dinner in our quarters this evening.”

  Ro felt honored by the invitation—and at the same time, unworthy of it. It’s just dinner, she thought, but then something else occurred to her. To Picard, though, she simply said, “I’d like that very much.”

  “Good. Let’s say nineteen hundred hours then,” Picard said. He stood up and faced Ro, who also got to her feet. “It is so very good to see you, Laren. I’m delighted that you are doing so well.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “It’s very good to see you, sir.”

  “Jean-Luc.”

  She considered his request that she use his given name a privilege. “Thank you, Jean-Luc.”

  He turned and exited the office. Ro felt a twinge of disgrace as she watched him leave. It still troubled her that she had once betrayed Picard’s trust in her, despite the fact that it had happened so long ago.

  Ro turned and collected his cup and her glass from the sitting area. As she carried them to the replicator to be recycled, she faced her realization. It seemed completely clear that Captain Picard had forgiven her for her past failures, but she also saw that, even after all the time that had passed, she had yet to forgive herself.

  “Maybe it’s time,” she said in her empty office. And she knew that it was.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard waited in DS9’s wardroom, seated at the head of the long conference table that filled most of the elongated, narrow space. Even with the capacity to accommodate more than a dozen people at the table, and perhaps as many at either end of the room, and even with the five large, eye-shaped ports that lined the outer bulkhead, the place felt cold and confining. And not just the wardroom, Picard thought. The entire station seemed like an agglomeration of shadows, collected together in a hard, uninviting framework. The setting reminded him of a starship in battle, with emergency lighting and instrument panels barely able to keep the darkness at bay. In other words, Picard thought, not a friendly place.

  At the captain’s right hand sat Enterprise’s chief engineer, Geordi La Forge. The two meetings that afternoon called for one of Picard’s senior staff to accompany him. With so many Typhon Pact vessels ranging through the sector—he could see four freighters, three Breen and one Gorn, through the wardroom’s ports—it made sense to leave his exec and his security chief aboard ship, in the event that an incident arose requiring the Enterprise crew to take immediate action.

  “Do we know who the Feder
ation Council is sending along with us?” La Forge asked.

  “We did,” Picard said, not without some frustration. “Tel Ammanis Lent had been appointed, but she’s subsequently been withdrawn.”

  “She’s the Alonis ambassador?”

  “Yes,” Picard said. “And she’s had more experience in dealing with the Romulans over the past decade than any other Federation diplomat. Her assignment to this mission made eminent sense.” When Enterprise and the Romulan Imperial Fleet starship Eletrix embarked on a joint exploratory mission to the Gamma Quadrant two days hence, each would carry a liaison to aid in the lines of communication between the two crews.

  “Then why was she withdrawn?” asked the engineer.

  “That’s a good question, Mister La Forge, one for which I do not have an adequate answer,” Picard said. “When I received word directly from President Bacco’s office yesterday about the change, they did not offer an explanation.”

  “It sounds like somebody somewhere is playing politics,” observed La Forge.

  “It does appear as though that might be the case,” Picard said. “Although, considering the importance of this venture to the stability of the—”

  Before the captain could complete his thought, the farther of the wardroom’s two doors parted and glided open. He expected the station’s first officer to escort the Federation liaison to the meeting, but instead, Captain Ro entered. A moment later, he understood why as a familiar, lanky figure stepped inside behind her. He wore traditional black vestments, his arms hidden within their folds. Picard stood up from the table, as did La Forge beside him.

  “Captain Picard,” Ro announced formally, “I would like to present Ambassador Spock.”

  “Of course,” Picard said quietly. He raised his hand and offered the customary Vulcan gesture of greeting, palm out, paired fingers forming a V, thumb straight out to the side. “Welcome, Ambassador.”

  “Thank you, Captain,” Spock said, extracting his arm from within his robe and returning Picard’s manual salutation. He then turned to Ro and thanked her as well.

  Ro bowed her head in acknowledgment. Then, to Picard, she said, “The Romulan ship Eletrix has just docked at the station.”

  “When their party is ready, Captain,” Picard said, “would you please have them escorted down here?”

  “I will,” Ro said, and then she left the wardroom.

  Once the doors had closed behind her, Spock approached the conference table and the two officers. “I trust you remember my chief engineer,” said Picard, “Commander La Forge.”

  Spock turned his head slightly to one side, the small movement clearly signaling curiosity, and reminding Picard of his lost friend, Data. “Commander La Forge?” said the ambassador. “When we last saw each other, you had been promoted to the rank of captain of engineering.”

  Beside Picard, La Forge shifted from one foot to the other. “I was,” he told Spock. “But when the command of the Musgrave opened up, Starfleet wanted to transfer me there as its new captain. I considered the opportunity, but …” He shrugged and glanced at Picard. “I’m pretty confident in my engineering abilities,” he said, “but I think my command skills could still use a little seasoning.”

  “He’s now the Enterprise’s second officer,” Picard noted.

  “Starfleet didn’t think the chain of command worked with two captains in it,” La Forge explained, “so I accepted a rank reassignment to commander.”

  “Nevertheless,” Spock said, “I am certain that our mutual colleague would have been pleased and impressed with the path of your career.”

  Picard nodded in agreement. “I believe that Scotty considered Mister La Forge a kindred soul.”

  “He said as much to me,” Spock said, before bowing his head and casting his gaze downward. “With Captain Scott’s death, Starfleet lost one of its finest engineers.”

  “He saved two crews,” La Forge said solemnly. “One aboard the Challenger and one aboard a Romulan ship.”

  Spock looked back up. “As I’ve mentioned to you, that is of no surprise to me,” he said. “Dying in the service of saving others has become something of a staple among the senior officers—and former senior officers—of the Enterprise.”

  As the captain of the current generation of that ship, Picard glanced at La Forge, and then back at the ambassador. “I hope that you’re not offering a prediction for the mission we’re about to begin.”

  “A prediction?” Spock said. “No.” Then he raised an eyebrow and added, “But there are always possibilities.”

  Picard did not visibly react to the remark, but he thought that the dryness of the Vulcan’s sense of humor could bring drought to Pacifica. He indicated that Spock should take the seat across from La Forge. Once all three men had sat down at the conference table, Picard said, “So you are taking the role of the Enterprise’s liaison to the crew of the Eletrix.”

  “I am,” Spock said. “President Bacco personally requested that I take the position. As I understand it, she made the decision to do so jointly with Admiral Akaar. While the Federation Council’s first choice for the position, Ambassador Lent, possesses a wealth of diplomatic experience with the Romulans, I do as well. In addition to my own years of service as a Federation ambassador, I have also resided on Romulus almost continuously for the past fifteen years. Furthermore, I believe that President Bacco and Admiral Akaar viewed my decades of active duty aboard Starfleet vessels as an advantage. There is also the matter of my familiarity with Praetor Kamemor.”

  “Familiarity?” Picard asked.

  “Since she became the leader of the Romulan Empire,” Spock explained, “she and I have had several meetings. Most recently, she asked that I carry an olive branch from the Typhon Pact. Specifically, I delivered her invitation to President Bacco for the diplomatic summit that was ultimately hosted by the Boslics.”

  “I see,” said Picard. “And obviously your presence here demonstrates your commitment to the cause of entente. Clearly, you view it as even more important than your work on Vulcan-Romulan reunification.”

  “I do actively support the current state of governmental amity in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants,” Spock said. “But my decision to depart Romulus, while hastened by the praetor’s call for me to act as an envoy to the president, did not begin there. I had already determined to leave the Empire and return to the Federation.”

  “I must say, that surprises me,” said Picard. “I thought that over the last couple of years, since first Tal’Aura and then Gell Kamemor permitted the open public discussion of reunification, the Movement had grown considerably.”

  “It has,” Spock said. “But my place as its leader, and as the face of the Movement, has outlived its usefulness. Romulan voices—in many cases, younger voices—have replaced mine in the ongoing debate. While I will freely provide counsel to the owners of those voices if asked, I am content to step aside and allow them to carry the cause into the future.”

  “Does that mean that you’ve left Romulus for good?” La Forge asked.

  “I do not know if I will ever reside within the Empire again,” Spock said. “I am sure that I will maintain a relationship with the Romulan people, and with Praetor Kamemor, but I now believe that I can be of most use back in the Federation.”

  “A claim well supported by your participation in our upcoming mission,” Picard said. “Do you have a plan for how you will conduct the communications between the Federation and Romulan crews?”

  “Nothing specific,” Spock said. “I intend to discuss the nature and details of our interface with my Romulan counterpart before establishing any definite procedures. It seems to me, though, that our roles should be more administrative than participatory.”

  “Meaning that you intend to allow the crews to communicate among themselves?” Picard asked.

  “That will be my recommendation,” Spock said. “There should be limitations in place in order to avoid confusion. I would restrict such communications to a small number of sen
ior officers in both crews.”

  “Will that include the chief engineers?” La Forge asked. “Because in my experience, while too many voices can muddy the waters, technical solutions often require a high level of coordination among the experts.”

  “I have to agree with Commander La Forge,” Picard said.

  “I think we need to manage such interactions,” Spock said, “but I concur. I envision connecting the heads of departments from both crews, such as the chief engineers, the lead scientists, the communications directors, and the chief medical officers.”

  They spoke for several more minutes about the joint mission, including the historic nature of the Federation and Romulan Empire exploring the universe together. The plan called for the two ships, Enterprise and Eletrix, to travel independently but in relative proximity to each other, with their crews charting star systems and interstellar phenomena. If either vessel encountered a habitable world or something else worthy of extended study, both crews would then work together.

  As Picard started to discuss the intended flight path through the Gamma Quadrant, the nearer doors opened, and Captain Ro once again entered the wardroom. Two Romulans, a man and a woman, both in Imperial Fleet uniforms, followed her into the room. Picard recognized the rank insignia of the woman as that of a commander, the Romulan equivalent of a Starfleet captain. Tall, with striking green eyes and loose brunette hair, she carried herself with confidence and dignity.

  Picard stood—as did La Forge and Spock—and waited for Captain Ro to make formal introductions. Before she did, though, a third Romulan crossed the threshold behind the others, a man whom Picard recognized from numerous encounters across many years. After the doors closed, Ro said, “Captain Picard, I would like to present Commander Orventa T’Jul of the Romulan vessel Eletrix; her second-in-command, Subcommander Venalur Atreev; and the Romulan liaison, Tomalak.”

  All at once, the optimism with which Picard anticipated the joint mission faded, replaced by a feeling of dread, and a concern about the true aims of the praetor.

  20