At last, Pego said, “I do not have the authority to make such a decision.”
“I urge you to seek the counsel of those who do,” Kirk said.
“How do I know that you have the information you claim?” Pego asked.
“You don’t,” Kirk said. “But you can make a determination about the character of my people. Your sensors must show that your weapons had virtually no effect on either of our two ships. And despite the fact that you fired upon us, we have not retaliated. If we wished, we readily could have destroyed one or more of your vessels to demonstrate our strength. Even now, we could use the might of our ships to land on your world and seek its leaders. We have not done that, nor would we ever consider doing so. Our people believe that true strength does not reveal itself in violence, particularly when used by the strong against the weak.”
Again, Pego did not reply at once. Even if Kirk hadn’t been told that Pego did not lead the government, even if he hadn’t heard fear in his voice, he could have guessed as much, merely from his hesitancy.
“I will pass your request on to our governor,” Pego said.
“I will wait here for an answer,” Kirk said. “I would also tell you that time may play a critical factor in the information we have to pass on.”
Pego closed the channel without another word.
Sixteen
Kirk studied the navigation console of Columbus carefully, reassuring himself that the sensor lock maintained the specified distance from the four alien vessels that escorted the shuttlecraft down to the surface of the planet. It had taken two hours for Pego to relay a response from the colony’s governor, and the captain suspected that most of that time had been taken up with debate about the situation. When the aliens finally agreed to allow the captain to meet with their leader, they provided strict conditions under which that meeting would occur. The seriousness of their concerns, combined with their reaction to the appearance of Enterprise and Courageous in the star system, convinced Kirk that they must already know about the two lost colonies.
Spock, of course, had been concerned about the captain traveling unaccompanied to the planet surface, and Captain Caulder had shared those apprehensions. Kirk reminded both men that Enterprise and Courageous boasted enough firepower to lay waste to every alien vessel in orbit and their entire city, a compelling enough reason for the aliens to treat the captain with civility and guarantee his safety while in their company. In addition, Kirk secured permission for both Starfleet ships to enter orbit about the planet—a good distance from the colony support ships, but still in orbit—which would allow Spock to immediately beam his commanding officer back to Enterprise should the need arise. The first officer intended to keep a sensor lock on the captain during his visit on the planet.
As the shuttlecraft neared the surface, Kirk took a moment to stand and glance through the forward ports. The city that spread out before him had clearly not been completed; as Spock had noted, the northernmost section appeared under construction. The majority that had been finished, though, enchanted Kirk. He could not honestly say that the collections of buildings and green spaces, of neighborhoods and pedestrian thoroughfares, of statuary and public squares matched the images he’d envisioned when walking through the destroyed cities, but even viewing those features from above, he saw them filled with vibrant life. Subdued but pervasive colors adorned many structures, and the natural landscape surrounding the colony had been embraced and brought inside, with grass and flowers and trees running throughout it. Kirk also saw at least one narrow river snaking its way in and out of the city, and in other locations, elaborate fountains added movement and artistry to the scenery.
As Columbus continued to descend, the edge of the city passed beneath it. Kirk could discern the figures of people walking along the avenues below, and as he peered through the ports, he spotted many heads turning up toward the shuttlecraft, and several arms thrusting skyward. From his vantage, the aliens appeared humanoid, a deduction he and his crew had already made after finding the broken statue in the first ruined city.
Gazing ahead, Kirk saw where it seemed Columbus would alight, and he felt a flutter of anticipation. He sat back down at the main console, then monitored the shuttlecraft as its four chaperones guided it to a landing. When he felt Columbus touch down, the captain stood, walked over to the hatch, and as he’d been instructed, waited.
Moments later, he heard a rapping on the outside of the hatch. Kirk reached up and worked the control pad set into the bulkhead. The two upper portions of the hatch parted, and the bottom section folded outward across the port nacelle. Just outside waited a party of three people, a man and two women. The man and one of the women—both appeared young, quite tall, and fit—hung back in what the captain recognized as the characteristic positioning of security officers. Kirk saw no weapons, but assumed that they carried them. The second woman did not appear as physically imposing as the others; possessed of a rich, dark complexion, she wore an almost regal bearing. All three looked nearly indistinguishable from humans, with the exception of—
“You are James Kirk?” asked the second woman from her forward position.
“I am,” he said.
“Welcome to Pillagra.”
Kirk stepped out onto the step formed by the bottom of the hatch and looked around. Columbus had set down in the center of the city, in a cobbled square of roughly the same dimensions as those he and his crew had observed—that they had walked through—in the lost colonies. But where those had been bordered by the ruins of wrecked buildings, the one before the captain nestled within the entrancing confines of stately architecture. Kirk felt as though he stood in fallen land somehow reclaimed.
“Is Pillagra the name of your city or of this world?” he asked the regal woman.
“It was the name we chose for our colony,” she said, “but now we let it stand for the planet as well.”
“I am very pleased to be here,” Kirk said.
“And we are pleased to have you here,” the woman replied. “My name is Alitess Lan. The governor has asked me to escort you to your appointment with her.”
“Thank you.”
Kirk stepped down onto the cobblestoned surface of the square, then closed and secured the shuttlecraft’s hatch. He then followed Lan as she led him away from Columbus, between the two alien vessels that had landed in front of the shuttle. The air felt cool and slightly damp, and from the position of the sun not that far above the horizon, Kirk estimated the time as midmorning. He noticed only a handful of people about, all of whom remained stationary, leaving him to believe that the square had been locked down by Pillagra’s security.
Lan led Kirk toward the tallest building in sight; it reached to three stories, while most of the buildings that fronted on the square rose only two. In front of their apparent destination stood a fountain. In the center of a round reservoir, a graceful pedestal supported what looked like a large chest that had been hinged open, and which revealed a heavily textured, ornately carved hourglass figure within it. Water poured from the opening in the chest and cascaded down into the basin with a rush of white spray. Kirk found it beautiful.
Inside the building, Lan and Kirk entered a midsized atrium, into which spilled the morning light. Large plants lined the columned space, interspersed with several sitting areas. The room clearly functioned as a place for guests to wait. Again, Kirk saw only a small number of people about, and once again he assumed them all security officers.
Lan directed Kirk to a tall wooden door set into the left-hand wall. She opened it before him, allowing him to enter first. After telling him that the governor would be in shortly to see him, Lan withdrew and closed the door behind her.
Though not as tall as the atrium, the room still rose to a considerable height. Framed artwork adorned the walls; large paintings of various styles and subject matter seemed designed to appeal to eclectic tastes. Nicely but sparingly appointed with a pair of sofas and a number of chairs and small tables, the room appeared to
Kirk to serve as a reception area, a place to meet guests before moving on to other rooms in the building.
The captain walked around the room, looking at—and in some cases admiring—the artwork. Only a short time passed before a second door opened. A woman entered, scanned the room until she saw Kirk, and then headed toward him. Short, with a bit of a round shape, she had wavy black hair and a smile that, even from a distance, seemed extraordinarily genuine.
“I am Velura Sant,” the woman said as she approached. “I am the governor of Pillagra.”
“James Kirk, captain of the Federation vessel Enterprise,” he said. “It is a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. Thank you for seeing me.”
Sant motioned toward the nearest sofa and said, “Shall we sit?” Once they had settled themselves, the governor said, “I am told, Captain, that you put quite a scare into the crews of our support vessels in orbit.”
“I can assure you that was not my intention,” Kirk said, “and I apologize.”
“I am also told that you claim to have important information for me and my people,” Sant said. “I hope you will not be offended when I tell you how unlikely that seems to me.”
“I understand how it must sound, Governor Sant, but—”
“Excuse me, Captain, but I am addressed as Governor Velura.” She seemed to offer the correction as a statement of fact, with no trace of having been insulted.
“Pardon me, Governor Velura,” Kirk said. “I truly do have information to impart to you, and which I believe you will find of great import, but I am reluctant to speak of it without first learning how much of this information you already know.”
Velura lifted both of her eyebrows. “Again, I mean no offense, Captain,” she said, “but that sounds deliberately obfuscatory. I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Governor, this colony, Pillagra, is not the only one of its kind, is it?” A shadow seemed to pass over Velura’s features. “I ask because the information I have concerns two other colonies that we believe your people might have settled.”
“Then I can imagine what that information might be,” the governor said. “And yes, I can tell you about those other colonies.
“When we set out from our homeworld to reach this planet and build Pillagra, we did so as part of a movement. We were one of three sets of ships that went out. The first colonists reached a planet they called Gelladorn and began constructing a city there. As they did, transports began ferrying more settlers there, ultimately delivering nearly a hundred thousand people.”
Although that number fell within Starfleet estimates of the city’s capacity, the figure nevertheless staggered Kirk. He could only hope that all of the inhabitants had not perished with Gelladorn.
“The second colony was built in the same manner,” Velura continued. “It was called Velat Nol, and it was farther from our homeworld. Farther still is the third colony, which is Pillagra.”
“But something happened to Gelladorn and Velat Nol,” Kirk said gently.
The governor’s jaw clenched. “Both were annihilated, Captain,” she said. “Utterly destroyed, from what we understand, without a single survivor.” She paused and breathed in deeply, as though trying to fight back deep emotion. “When communication was lost with Gelladorn, it was assumed to be a technological problem, and so a ship was sent with experts to conduct any needed repairs.
“The ship was never heard from again.
“Another expedition was sent to investigate,” Velura went on. “Proceeding with extreme caution, they examined the ruins of the colony, and while doing so, were attacked by missiles launched from elsewhere on the planet. They managed to escape, but it was suggested that the Gelladorn colonists might have built their city on the site of an existing, automated military post.”
“Belonging to whom?” Kirk asked.
“We don’t know,” the governor said. “But the colonists of Velat Nol immediately set out to explore their seemingly pristine world to make sure that a similar fate would not befall them. They found no missile installations, but a short time later, communication was lost with Velat Nol as well. A subsequent expedition found only wreckage where once the colony had been.”
“And Pillagra?” Kirk asked.
“By the time we learned that Velat Nol had fallen,” Velura said, “we had already settled Pillagra. We discussed the possibility of leaving, but we chose not to. As you can imagine, though—as you’ve witnessed—the appearance of strangers, particularly those in powerful starships, can set our people on edge.”
“Of course,” Kirk said, understanding completely.
“And now, Captain, what have you to tell me?” the governor asked.
“The starship I command, the Enterprise, is on a mission of exploration,” Kirk said. “My crew seek to learn about our universe, and to meet the others with whom we share it.”
“That sounds . . . noble,” Velura said.
“I think there is an aspect of nobility to it,” Kirk agreed. “And when it’s done for the right reasons—for curiosity, for the enrichment of us all—there also has to be an element of humility. I also find it romantic.
“Sometimes, though, it can be hard,” the captain continued. “My crew discovered the remains of both the Gelladorn and Velat Nol colonies.” Kirk described in detail the events surrounding the Enterprise crew’s visits to the two lost cities. He included his decision to obliterate the missile installations, and the ambush of Enterprise by six other vessels. When he finished, he asked the governor whether her people had any idea who had destroyed their cities and killed their citizens, and why they had done so.
“No,” Velura said. “We talked about some sort of territorial issue, but the regions of space where the colonies were established seem to be largely unoccupied.”
“That has been our experience as well,” Kirk said.
The governor seemed to consider this, then asked, “So is that the information you wished to provide me and my people, Captain?”
“For the most part, yes,” Kirk said. “When our people observed what might have been a colonization effort, we chose to see for ourselves. When we confirmed the similarities of Pillagra to the lost cities we encountered, we wanted to warn you.”
For the first time since they’d begun talking about the lost colonies, a smile crept onto Velura’s face. “On behalf of my people, I thank you,” she said. “Particularly after all that’s happened, it’s nice to learn that there are other kind beings in the galaxy. This confederation of yours . . .”
“The United Federation of Planets,” Kirk said. “We are an amalgam of more than a hundred different worlds and species, people who share many ideals and goals, while at the same time retaining our distinctiveness.”
“That sounds impressive,” Velura said.
“And your people, Governor?” Kirk asked.
“My people?” Velura said. “We are the Bajorans, from the planet Bajor.”
Seventeen
Sulu walked along the avenues of Pillagra in a state of numbness.
After Captain Kirk had conducted a successful first contact with the Bajoran colonists, Captain Caulder had announced to the crew of Courageous that the two Starfleet vessels would remain in orbit about the planet for several more days. The additional time would allow Enterprise’s first-contact specialists to better acquaint themselves with the Bajorans, as well as to lay the foundation for a potential relationship between Bajor and the Federation. Governor Velura and her ministers also agreed to permit a small number of Courageous and Enterprise personnel—no more than two dozen at a time—to take shore leave in their city.
Sulu had not even considered requesting any off-duty time. He had joined the Courageous only a few months earlier, and as second officer, it seemed to him an abuse of power to take leave prior to the rest of the crew. But on the fourth day at Pillagra, just before the start of alpha shift, Commander Costley informed him that the two of them had been included on the list of crew members beaming down to the planet.
“The first and second officers get shore leave when it’s limited to only twelve of our complement at a time?” Sulu had protested to Costley. “The rest of the crew are going to transport us into open space.”
“I agree,” Costley had said. “But I think it’s the captain’s way of ensuring that I help you integrate with the crew.”
Knowing that it would only hurt his already tenuous standing with the captain to protest, Sulu had accepted the situation and transported down to Pillagra. He, Costley, and four other crew members—the second group of six to beam down from Courageous that morning—materialized in the square at the center of the colony. Back on R-775-I—or, as the Bajorans called it, Gelladorn—Sulu hadn’t seen that part of the wrecked city, nor had he visited the surface of R-836-II—Velat Nol. Trinh had been a member of landing parties to both worlds and both cities, though, and she had seen the squares there. She had described the first one in detail to Sulu.
Trinh’s words had returned to him as soon as he’d arrived in Pillagra. Although she had walked through obliterated cities, seeing nothing but ruins that marked the deaths of tens of thousands, she’d looked beyond the fallen present and into the living past. As an archaeologist, she possessed a talent for doing so. And so when Trinh had spoken to him about her experiences visiting those lost colonies, she’d also peeled away the layers of destruction, the layers of time, and illustrated for Sulu what once had been, despite the fact that she had never been there to see it.
The group of six in which he’d beamed down had initially stayed together as they explored Pillagra. They walked through the square, enjoying the art and architecture, the old-fashioned look and feel of the cobblestones, the fountain in front of what one Bajoran described to them as the governor’s residence and offices. They met and spoke with some of the colonists. Sulu said little, instead listening to his memories of Trinh.
Star Trek: TOS: Allegiance in Exile Page 23