Star Trek: Enterprise - 017 - Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic

by Christopher L. Bennett

  The newest addition to the S’chn T’gai family line of Clan Hgrtcha had been born more than a week before, but between Skon and T’Rama’s adjustment to parenthood, the rebuilding of their home, the repairs to Endeavour, and Takashi Kimura’s ongoing recovery from his injuries, this was her and Kimura’s first opportunity to come visit the newborn child. But they hadn’t come alone. Captain T’Pol, Phlox, and Tobin Dax—who had stuck around to assist in Endeavour’s repairs—had shuttled down with them to pay their respects to the family who had contributed and risked so much in the recent crisis. Iloja of Prim could not be with them, though; he was currently on a tour through Vulcan’s major cities and districts, observing the people’s recovery from the crisis with an eye toward composing an epic serial poem on the subject, and taking advantage of his new popularity as a public philosopher to make his own opinions emphatically known. The Vulcans were unaccustomed to such a frank, rude public speaker as Iloja, but maybe they sensed it was what they needed in the wake of the polite deceptions of the past.

  The baby, conversely, was startlingly well behaved for a week-old infant, and it seemed to Sato that there was already a keen intelligence in his eyes. Though that was no surprise, considering his pedigree. With a mathematician, computer expert, and linguist for a father and a detective and aspiring diplomat for a mother, the boy would grow up with a wealth of opportunities for achievement and all the skills he needed to take advantage of them. She expected impressive things in the child’s future. And she was glad that he would grow up on a Vulcan where he would have the freedom to pursue whatever goals he chose.

  “My diplomatic career will have to be deferred for at least several years,” T’Rama told her guests, “until our son has grown enough to gain a degree of independence. But I am young, and I should have decades beyond that in which to pursue diplomacy—if I do not decide to seek another path in the interim.”

  “I shall be here to assist in the boy’s upbringing as well, of course,” Skon said. “But in the short term, it will be necessary to divide my attentions somewhat. Now that the Kir’Shara is back where it belongs, I consider it important to complete my translation of it as soon as I am able. I believe recent events have given me new insights into Surak’s intentions.”

  Kimura spoke from his wheelchair, still struggling with the words but determined to retrain his speech center through practice. “You mean . . . his lessons . . . peace, unity? Bringing Vulcan together?”

  Skon looked surprised. “Yes, I suppose that is a factor as well. But I was referring to the birth of my son.” He gazed down at the quiet but alert child. “I believe I understand now why we call Surak the father of all we became. History attributes him with no known mate or children, but his siblings had heirs, and he was the head of his House, giving him responsibility for his family. Some contemporaries claimed that he abrogated that responsibility when he went into the desert to seek enlightenment . . . but I believe he was driven by a deeper sense of obligation to his heirs and descendants. He recognized that the actions we take do not merely affect our own immediate concerns or our conflicts with our rivals in the here and now . . . but that every decision we make shapes the world our descendants will be born into. Thus, we have an obligation to base our choices on their needs, not our own wishes or whatever ill fate we wish upon our rivals.”

  “That’s a lovely sentiment,” Sato said, “but I have to admit, it doesn’t sound very logical to me.”

  Skon considered. “Perhaps it does not. Logic is the means by which we find peace and wisdom. That does not make it the end in itself. Knowing that, I believe, will help me interpret Surak’s writings more authentically now.” He placed his hand on his child’s brow. “And it has also inspired us to choose a name for our son. A cognate of Surak’s name in the language of the nation whose nuclear weapon caused Surak’s lethal radiation sickness, but whom he forgave in his final days. Though Surak did not live to see it, these people came to embrace his teachings fully and did much to spread them to the rest of Vulcan, in penance for their crimes.”

  T’Rama handed Sato a ceremonial banner she had made for the child, inscribed with his name in traditional calligraphy. “Choosing this name expresses our hope that our son will continue the family tradition and become a diplomat and peacemaker.”

  Hoshi studied the calligraphy for a moment and smiled. “Sarek,” she said. “It’s a beautiful name. And a beautiful sentiment.”

  “A reminder of what matters most to us all,” Skon said, absently stroking Sarek’s head. “I trust it will motivate me to continue working to build a better Vulcan for my son . . . and for his children.”

  “As will we all,” T’Pol assured him.

  “There is no doubt of that in your case, Captain,” T’Rama said. “V’Las called you a traitor to Vulcan. But you have brought Vulcan with you to the stars, and to the Federation. You give us a voice where it is needed, no less than Commissioner Soval or Councillor T’Maran does.” She tilted her head. “Perhaps one day you will consider a diplomatic career yourself.”

  “I had never considered that as an option,” T’Pol replied after a moment’s thought. “But there are always possibilities.”

  “I think you’d be a terrific ambassador, Captain,” Sato said.

  “Thank you, Hoshi.”

  “Don’t believe her,” Kimura quipped. “Just . . . wants you out of the way . . . so she can get big chair.”

  Sato, Phlox, and Tobin laughed, and though T’Pol did not, she smoothly replied, “Then she will have a long wait. I will not be going anywhere soon—except aboard Endeavour.”

  “We wouldn’t have it any other way, Captain,” Hoshi assured her.

  Kimura turned to Dax. “How about you . . . Tobin? Done good work . . . fixing ship. Stick around?”

  The Trill blushed. “Thanks, Takashi. I’m glad I could help. But . . . I just don’t think I’m cut out for starship duty. Not in this lifetime, anyway.” Sato frowned at the odd turn of phrase, but he went on. “And before you say anything, Phlox, it’s not that I’m backing away from a challenge. I’m actually feeling kind of confident now after, you know, saving your necks and all.” The non-Vulcans laughed again. “I actually want to find a worthwhile challenge. But I want something new. Something more than just engines and starships, something that’ll give me new experiences, new memories to add to my store. Who knows?” he said, reaching out a finger to little Sarek, letting his tiny digits reflexively close around it. “Starting a family could be one hell of a challenge. Almost as big a challenge as finding someone who’d put up with me as a husband.”

  “What a marvelous idea!” Phlox beamed, clapping Tobin on the back and making him jump. The sudden movement annoyed Sarek, and T’Rama held him closer to comfort him. “Family is one of the worthiest challenges anyone can face. If you need a sample, why, come to Vaneel’s wedding on Denobula! I’d love to introduce you to my entire extended clan. It will either convince you conclusively of the joys and benefits of having a family . . . or frighten you off of the idea altogether.” Phlox cackled in anticipation.

  “I’ll, uh, think it over,” Tobin said, tugging on his collar.

  The small talk went on, but Hoshi found her attention drifting away from it. She let herself wander off, and Kimura soon followed in his wheelchair. She didn’t mind; it was what she’d wanted. He’d always been good at reading her moods. Even his loss of perceptual clarity and advance planning skills hadn’t cost him that—which told her a great deal. “Penny for thoughts?”

  Standing by the reglazed windows to the rear courtyard, she studied the ornate fountain and the soothing shimmer of the water that cascaded from its multiple arms. “I was thinking about how happy—well, how serene Skon and T’Rama look with their baby.”

  “Happy. Vulcan or not—happy.”

  “I think you’re right.” Taking a deep breath, she turned to him. “Takashi . . . there’s a quest
ion you asked a while back that I never answered.”

  He was very still. “Noticed that.”

  “I’m . . . not ready to leave Starfleet. Not for a while yet. There’s still so much I believe I can contribute.”

  “Understand.” He lowered his eyes.

  She knelt in front of him. “But if you and I have to live apart, Takashi . . . then I want it to be clear that our lives are still intertwined. Inseparable. Takashi Kimura . . . yes. I will marry you.”

  He pulled her into an embrace with his one arm, and she felt tears of joy and anticipation—and maybe one or two more complex feelings—fill her eyes. It wasn’t long before the others gathered around them, for they had not reckoned on Vulcan hearing and Denobulan snooping. “This is wonderful!” Phlox beamed. “Then you can come to the wedding, too! You and Vaneel can get married together! Denobulans love multiple weddings, you know!”

  Hoshi promised him they would think about it. But she knew the actual wedding itself would be the least of the things she’d have to start planning for, now that she had chosen to spend her life with Takashi. She’d just committed herself to many new challenges and obstacles. It was almost as frightening a decision as it had been to join Enterprise’s crew fourteen years ago.

  But those years in Starfleet had changed her. This time, she knew, she would face her fears without doubt or complaint. That was the only way to cope with the challenges ahead.

  June 29, 2165

  Pebru command ship

  “You will make us strong again?”

  “Not so loud,” Daskel Vabion cautioned the Pebru administrator who watched over his shoulder as he delicately reconfigured the dormant control pathways of the Ware data core. “As far as our Andorian keepers know, I’m simply restoring minimal propulsion capability to allow you to maintain commerce between your colony worlds.” Administrator Garep had already been told that by the Starfleet captain, of course, but Vabion had little faith in the Pebru’s ability to retain information.

  “But you are doing more.”

  “I am attempting to. But these Starfleet people are intelligent. It isn’t easy to conceal the exploits I’m installing in the system. So you must be patient. What I need you to do is continue your act of desperation. Convince Starfleet that you’re helpless without my assistance. That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

  “Just finish soon,” Garep said. “Make us masters of the Ware again and you will be rewarded. Fail, and you will not fare so well.”

  The Pebru’s threat was rather feeble without the Ware-made armor and prosthetic limbs to give it a sense of power. Stripped to mere clothes, it looked like nothing so much as an overweight, short-legged monotreme that his university roommate had once kept as a pet. But even if the administrator had been physically imposing, Vabion would have been unconcerned. Once the Pebru had served their purpose, they would no longer be needed. He would have a Ware battleship at his disposal and would have taken the first step toward gaining full control of the technology. He would need to recruit a few . . . volunteers . . . to serve as organic processors in order to reactivate the full capacity of the system and access its higher functions. But there were plenty of Pebru around, and surely they were good for something. If Vabion believed in justice, poetic or otherwise, he might think it served them right to take a turn at last.

  But instead, Daskel Vabion believed in practicality. He had a purpose: to acquire more knowledge, wealth, and power than any of the lesser minds that surrounded him. And now that he was no longer limited to a single primitive world, he had unprecedented resources to aid him in achieving it.

  Vabion smiled to himself as he registered a subtle feedback pulse within the circuit. He was now one step closer to bringing the weapons under his control.

  STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE

  RISE OF THE FEDERATION

  will continue

  Acknowledgments

  ONCE AGAIN, I’LL TRY to avoid repeating acknowledgments given in earlier volumes, aside from thanking Margaret and Ed at Pocket Books for continuing to hire me to do these things, and to my readers for their enthusiasm about seeing the Federation’s early years chronicled.

  Thanks to Cousin Cynthia for her input on the San Francisco Bay Area and the environs of Starfleet Headquarters, and to her and Aunt Shirley for the family genealogy discussion that led me to swipe two names from my ancestor Zadok Alonzo Bennett. And thanks to Marco Palmieri for reminding me that good villains are defined by the choices they compel the heroes to make.

  The story of the Kir’Shara and the Vulcan reformation was related in the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes “The Forge,” written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, “Awakening,” written by André Bormanis, and “Kir’Shara,” written by Mike Sussman. The characters of V’Las (Robert Foxworth) and Kuvak (John Rubinstein) debuted in those episodes, which also introduced the younger version of T’Pau (Kara Zediker), a character who appeared in the original series episode “Amok Time,” written by Theodore Sturgeon. The intervening events on Vulcan and elsewhere, including the alleged fate of V’Las, were established in the Star Trek: Enterprise novels The Good That Men Do and Kobayashi Maru by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin and The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor’s Wing and The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm by Martin.

  The hundred-year war between the Vulcans and Romulans was alluded to in Star Trek: Voyager: “Death Wish,” teleplay by Michael Piller and story by Shawn Piller, but otherwise left mysterious. Beneath the Raptor’s Wing alludes to a mentor of Soval’s recalling the closing phases of the war, allowing a rough estimate of its timing.

  The description of Skon and T’Rama’s (later Sarek’s) home is based on its depiction in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “Yesteryear,” written by D. C. Fontana. The term “reasoning force” for the Vulcan civil police, the place name Dycoon, and the Sas-a-shar Desert come from Alan Dean Foster’s novelization of “Yesteryear” in Star Trek Log One. Various details of the portrayal of ShiKahr and Vulcan culture and history are drawn from Star Trek: Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno and Star Trek: Myriad Universes—Shattered Light: The Tears of Eridanus by Steve Mollmann and Michael Schuster.

  Tobin Dax’s acquaintance with Iloja of Prim on Vulcan was established in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: “Destiny,” written by David S. Cohen and Martin A. Winer. Iloja’s background was fleshed out in Star Trek: Titan—Taking Wing by Mangels and Martin. For Cardassian backstory I drew on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine—A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson, Star Trek: The Fall—The Crimson Shadow by Una McCormack (who was kind enough to answer my questions), and Star Trek: New Worlds, New Civilizations by Michael Jan Friedman, as well as canonical references in various episodes. Tobin’s acquaintance with Skon was established in The Romulan War as well as the now out-of-continuity story Star Trek: The Lives of Dax: “Dead Man’s Hand” by Jeffrey Lang. Skon was established as Sarek’s father in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock by Harve Bennett. Skon’s age is implicit from Star Trek: Enterprise: “In a Mirror, Darkly,” written by Sussman. In that episode, the Mirror counterpart of the Star Trek: First Contact character usually identified as Skon’s father Solkar is murdered in 2063, yet Mirror Spock still exists in “Mirror, Mirror,” so Skon was presumably conceived before that date. Thanks to the Memory Beta wiki for pointing this out. T’Rama’s age is suggested in her debut story “A Girl for Every Star” by John Takis in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds V, which describes her as Archer’s contemporary, and by her description as a young woman in Beneath the Raptor’s Wing.

  For Vulcan linguistics, I drew on the Vulcan Language Dictionary at www.starbase-10.de/vld and the Vulcan Calligraphy fan site at korsaya.org/vulcan-calligraphy/. For details on warp reactor anatomy, I’m indebted to The Enterprise Project at www.waxingmoondesign.com (and to its supplemental page on Facebook for the specifics of Endeavour’s engine room) as well as the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technic
al Manual by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda. The concept that matter and antimatter cannot be mixed cold is from TOS: “The Naked Time” by John D. F. Black.

  President Haroun al-Rashid was established in Star Trek: Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido; the remainder of his name and his appearance are my own extrapolation. Soreth is from my debut novel Star Trek: Ex Machina.

  The Ware is my own name for the technology behind the automated repair station introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise: “Dead Stop,” written by Sussman and Phyllis Strong. Thanks to Mike for answering my questions about the episode, and to the repair station’s designer Doug Drexler for providing design artwork and insights. The Ware battleships are inspired in part by an unused design for the episode by John Eaves.

  The movie Trip plays for Malcolm is the 1966 20th Century Fox parody Our Man Flint, directed by Daniel Mann and written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr. The described scene features James Coburn and Lee J. Cobb as well as Shelby Grant, Sigrid Valdis, Gianna Serra, and Helen Funai. The music was by future Star Trek composer Jerry Goldsmith, which might possibly cause the universe to implode in a paradox.

  Abramson (with an “ah” sound) is one of the historical aliases of Flint in Star Trek “Requiem for Methuselah,” written by Jerome Bixby. His Wilson Evergreen alias was established in Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars—The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume One by Greg Cox, and Jerome Drexel was from “The Immortality Blues” by Marc Carlson, published in Star Trek Strange New Worlds 09.

  The Carreon and their history with the Deltans were created by Robert Greenberger in Star Trek: The Next Generation—Gateways: Doors Into Chaos. The E.C.S. Horizon’s encounter with the Deltans was established in Star Trek: Enterprise: “Bound,” written by Manny Coto, and established as Earth’s first contact with the race in my own Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations—Watching the Clock.

  Alert readers may note that, in contrast to the first two volumes of Rise of the Federation, I have now begun incorporating some tidbits from Federation: The First 150 Years by David A. Goodman, such as Earth Cargo Services founder Davida Rossi and certain elements of V’Las’s backstory (though I’ve interpreted it in my own way). Although Goodman’s version of Federation history differs substantially from the Pocket novel continuity in certain key areas (mainly the major wars and the Rise of the Federation era), most of the rest is, in my opinion, compatible with the novels and offers the only currently available insights on certain aspects of Trek history. So I feel it’s worthwhile to draw on the book’s precedents where they’re reconcilable and useful.