by Peter David
Shelby nodded. “And since our schedule called for us to come through here, I didn’t mind stopping off to be the one to tell you the news.”
“What news?”
“They’re relaunching Excalibur.”
Lefler’s eyes glittered with excitement. “Really?”
“Really. From the outside, it looks like a standard Galaxy-class, but inside … well, do you know what the ancient term “hot rod” means? And she’s been commissioned with the name of our old ship. Not only that, but there’s going to be a launching and christening ceremony.”
“Where?”
“Well, final dry runs were held at the drydock at Starbase Eight. That’s where the ceremony’s going to be held. Invitations have been sent out to the command crew, and everyone’s going to be there. Even Jean-Luc Picard. He was, after all, the one who was responsible for getting Mac to join Starfleet, so obviously he felt it would only be right. And who would gainsay him, right? The only outstanding invitation was to you.”
“Of course I’ll come! When is it?”
“In a week. Actually, we’re on our way there now. My orders are simply to bring you along if you’re interested.”
“We? You mean your ship? The Exeter? You came here in your ship?”
Shelby smirked. “It certainly seemed easier than walking here.”
“Yes, of course,” laughed Lefler, thwapping her own forehead in chagrin. “I’m sorry, it’s just …” Her hands fluttered. “I feel like … there’s all sorts of emotions just kind of running around inside me. I feel like I don’t know where to look first, you know?”
“Believe me, I know. I do know. Oh, and your mother is naturally also welcome to come. She’s here with you, I take it.” And when Lefler nodded, she added, “Also, I was wondering if you know the whereabouts of Si Cwan and Kalinda. Wouldn’t quite be the same without our unofficial ambassador and his sister along. They’re the only other ones who haven’t responded …”
She saw the expression on Lefler’s face then … something that was a cross between anger and pain.
“Robin,” she said slowly, “what happened?”
Lefler turned away. “Just … some problems here on Risa.”
“What … kind of problems?”
“Oh, the people-getting-killed, screaming-disaster kind of problems. You know. Typical.” She was trying to sound flip, but she wasn’t remotely succeeding.
“I think,” Shelby said, “you’d better tell me what happened.”
“Captain, that isn’t necessary—”
“Lefler,” said Shelby sternly, “you’re still in Starfleet, even if you have holed up on a resort planet. I still outrank you. Tell me. What. Happened.”
Lefler took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “All right … look, Captain. If I tell you … then let me just tell you, okay? Don’t stop me or ask me questions or anything. Let me just get through it. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough. Shall we go somewhere to—?”
Lefler shrugged. “Here is as good as anywhere else. Okay, so … where to start …” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Where to start …”
Shelby, as per their agreement, waited silently.
“All right,” said Lefler after a long moment’s pause. “Mother and I decided … well, Mother decided, really, and I just came along because, you know, go stop my mother when she gets something into her head … that we would go on vacation here, to Risa … to this hotel, called the El Dorado. We met some … interesting people here. One of them was a genuine relic: a man named Montgomery Scott, also known as Scotty, who used to be chief engineer under the command of Captain Kirk. He was time-displaced, for reasons too complicated to go into. Annnnnyway, he was working here at the El Dorado—having initially come to work on straightening out the resort’s computer system, and staying on as a sort of ‘greeter’ in a customized pub called the Engine Room. He took an immediate shine to my mother … but she, in turn, became interested in a man named Rafe Viola.
“I, meantime, decided to do some exploring. I wound up falling through a weak part of the ground and encountered a subterranean creature that was some kind of huge, gelatinous mass that was extremely nasty and very hungry. I wound up being saved at the last moment by, of all people, Nikolas Viola … the son, of course, of Rafe. We became … a bit involved. It’s … not really relevant.
“Except … things weren’t remotely what they appeared to be. It turned out that Rafe Viola was actually a fabricated name … that his true name was Sientor Olivan. And Olivan had quite a track record. For one thing … he created the computer virus that was responsible for setting the events in motion that blew up the Excalibur.”
“Oh, my God,” breathed Shelby. “I had received word that an individual purportedly responsible for it had been identified, but the details were sketchy.”
“Well, I’ll fill them in for you … except, you know, you promised …”
“Not to interrupt. My apologies.”
“It’s all right. In any event, the night that everything went insane, Mother and I were having dinner with Olivan and his … Nik … in a restaurant here called the Shakespeare Tavern. What we didn’t know was that Olivan had tapped into the El Dorado computer as well … not with the intention of destroying it, but instead of enriching himself. He was using it to access not only the accounts of the resort, but the personal accounts of every single visitor here, past and present, with the intention of siphoning all their funds into a hidden account of his own. Scotty and the resort’s manager, Mr. Quincy, discovered it while working in the resort’s computer core. Unfortunately for them, Nik discovered them as well. Nik killed Quincy with his bare hands, and then tried to get Scotty … who leaped into the pit of the computer core in order to get away.
“All of this, we didn’t know. We just thought we were having dinner … except something in Olivan’s attitude tipped off my mother. And that’s when Si Cwan and Kalinda showed up …”
“Showed up here?” asked Shelby, and then realizing, she said, “Sorry.”
“Yes. Showed up here. You see, they’d been tracking down Olivan, because Olivan had killed a beloved teacher of Si Cwan’s … a man named Jereme, who had also been a teacher of Olivan’s. Except there was some confusion, because Kalinda claimed that it had been Nik who had killed Jereme, not Olivan himself. In any event, it didn’t matter to Si Cwan, because he was ready to take out both of them, he was so furious over the death of his teacher.
“But Olivan, he didn’t seem the least bit bothered. In fact, he seemed incredibly confident, and seconds later, we found out why. I’ll never forget. He said that even though he hadn’t been expecting any sort of trouble, he had prepared for it nevertheless. And he said, ‘I introduced a virus into the central computer of the El Dorado, which I’ve just triggered,’ and he tapped his belt buckle, ‘with this. Within two minutes, this entire resort will become one gargantuan death trap. I am the only one who can stop it. If you kill me, Si Cwan … even if you manage to do so, which I very much doubt … then you will be dooming everyone you see in this room to a very violent death. Your choice, Si Cwan. For the sake of everyone here … I hope you choose correctly.’
“And that’s when things got really interesting …”
TAPINZA
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, you promised Krut first shot? We should have first shot!”
Temo was bristling with fury as he stood in the middle of Tapinza’s office. Seated in chairs nearby were his brothers, the newly freed Kusack and the less-than-talkative Qinos. Tapinza, behind his desk, was the picture of calm.
“Krut came an awful long way to kill Calhoun,” Tapinza said coolly. “And his grudge goes back a bit further. So I felt it the least I could do to accommodate him. Granted, he didn’t know initially that Calhoun was the one who had slain his business partner, but now that he does know …”
“This is intolerable!” Temo raged.
Harshly, Tapinza said, “You will tolerate it. I�
�ve already endeavored to make your life easier. Or did you think the Judiciary let your brother free because of Kusack’s charming personality?”
Temo made a dismissive noise. “You’re now claiming credit for a decision of law that went in our brother’s favor? What sort of arrogant—?”
Tapinza slapped his hands together so forcefully that it made the three brothers jump. A door opened at the far end of the room, and two men walked in. They were two of a kind, both grizzled and low to the ground, eyes glowing with a sullen malevolence. Kusack’s eyes widened as he recognized them immediately.
“Solly … Bartog … you remember Kusack,” Tapinza said cheerfully. “Kusack, say hello to—”
“You were at the game!” Kusack said in alarm. He turned to Temo as if his brother hadn’t heard and said again, “They were at the game! The card game! The one where I—”
“We all know what you did, Kusack,” interrupted Tapinza. “Calm down. You are among friends here. Well … if not friends … certainly not enemies, in any event. Solly and Bartog are in my employ.”
“It was a setup,” Qinos said hollowly.
“No, not a setup,” Tapinza told him, shaking his head vigorously. “Purest happenstance. But one becomes successful by seeing where the opportunities lie.”
“They owe me money,” Kusack said sullenly.
“Indeed they do. And if I had chosen to produce them, they could have testified against you, providing sufficient eyewitness testimony to send you to a very deep hole, Kusack. So I strongly advise that, rather than complain or otherwise be belligerent, you keep in mind just who your friends are.” He surveyed the occupants of the room balefully. “Now … you will do exactly as I say, exactly when I say it. Temo, Qinos, Kusack, You’ll station yourselves at key points around the city, waiting in ambush. Krut will have his opportunity at Calhoun. If something goes wrong, then … only then … will you take your turn at him. If you do as I say, then we have potential for a rather impressive alliance. If you do not do as I say, then I will put an end to you. Don’t think that I can’t. People become extremely dead underestimating me. Are we all clear on this?”
Qinos and Kusack both looked to Temo, as they customarily did. Temo did not look away from Tapinza for a long moment, and then finally he nodded, his face unreadable.
“Good,” said Tapinza, and he clapped his hands and rubbed them together briskly. “Okay, then! The show should be starting quite soon! Let’s get into position … and enjoy the day.”
LEFLER’S STORY
I STOOD THERE, not knowing where to look first. Si Cwan was facing the man he’d called Sientor Olivan, and whom I’d known until recently as Rafe Viola. Next to him was his son, or at least the man whom I’d believed to be his son … except that, at that moment, I had no idea who anyone was anymore. I barely knew who I was.
It was like the air between Olivan and Si Cwan could be cut with a sword, it was so thick with tension. And Si Cwan certainly had the sword, all right. But whatever anger he was feeling, whatever emotions were being tossed around inside him, he didn’t let any of it show. Instead, he just stood there, like a big Thallonian statue.
“I can shut it down with this remote, Cwan,” said Olivan, tapping his belt buckle again. “But I’ll only do it once Nik and I are gone. And since it’s at least a ninety-second dash to our ship, which is out in the main landing area, I suggest you get out of our way, because you’re running out of time to have me shut down the death-trap scenario.”
“We’ve no way of knowing if he’s lying … or even if he will shut it down once he’s gone,” Kalinda said to her brother.
Si Cwan certainly knew that … but apparently he also knew that he couldn’t take the risk. He stepped to one side, but his gaze never left Olivan’s face. “This isn’t over,” he growled. “I tracked you here. I can follow you anywhere.”
Olivan didn’t bother to respond. Instead, he just started to head out. Nik cast one look in my direction, and I have no idea what was going through his mind. Regret? Smug triumph? I’ve no idea. His face was just … just blank. Which was fine, I guess, because at that moment I had absolutely no idea what to think about anything, so I guess I was something of a blank myself.
They headed for the door … and suddenly there was this … there’s no other way to put it, a battle cry. And charging in through the door, bellowing like a lunatic, was Montgomery Scott.
Now you’ve got to understand: Olivan is an incredible hand-to-hand fighter. It’s one of the things he learned from Jereme. He’s on Si Cwan’s level. Hell, he’s above Si Cwan’s level. And Scotty is … well, not exactly in shape, let’s put it that way. Under ordinary circumstances, Scotty doesn’t even get within two feet of him before Olivan puts him down. But these weren’t ordinary circumstances. Because Scotty was coming in just as Olivan was going out, so it was totally unexpected. And not only that, but Olivan thought that Scotty was dead. So, for just a second, Olivan was frozen in place in confusion and surprise. As it turned out, that was all that was needed.
Scotty plowed into him like a rhino, shouting out stuff in Scots that I couldn’t even begin to understand, though I doubt any of it was especially flattering. Scotty managed to get a grip on Olivan’s shoulder and upper arm, and then Scotty’s weight and momentum were enough to send both of them crashing to the floor.
Everybody in the tavern was shouting at once, but it all blended together so that nobody really understood anything that anybody else was saying. Even with everything he had going for him, Scotty didn’t last for more than a few seconds, as Nik stepped in behind and yanked him off his father. He whipped Scotty around, and Scotty saw him and shouted, “And you! You were the one who killed Quincy!” and he tried to lunge at him. But Nik was more than ready for him, and he moved so fast that he was practically a blur as he sent Scotty tumbling to the floor.
“Get away from him!” shouted my mom as she charged forward.
Nik did step away, but only after he kicked Scotty in the gut. Scotty let out a yelp, but by that point Nik was already helping his father to his feet. “You said he was dead!” shouted Olivan.
“I thought he was! I saw him jump!” said Nik defensively. He turned to Scotty and yelled at him, “How can you still be alive? How?”
Mom was crouched next to Scotty, trying to get him not to move, but Scotty fought his way up to a half-sitting position, and he had this look of grim satisfaction on his face. “It’s like ah told Quincy, before ye murdered him, ye bloodthirsty Saracen. Ah prepare for everything. And if ah have to be crawlin’ around a computer core shaft with a sheer drop, ah make sure to have antigrav boots on in case ah make a misstep. They make ’em smaller and more elegant in this century than in muh own, and they get th’ job done.”
“Very foresighted. Very clever,” Olivan said. Then he saw that Nik was staring at him. “What’s wron—”
Then he looked down at where Nik was looking. He looked down at his belt buckle. The one that had the device in it that was going to be able to shut down the whole “death-trap” thing.
It was busted. When Scotty had knocked him to the floor, it had shattered.
“Oh, no,” Olivan said. He didn’t look quite as confident as he had a moment before.
“This could be a problem,” Mother said.
Scotty was looking around in confusion. “What’s wrong? What happen—?”
That was when we started hearing the rumbling. It was very distant, but it sounded as if it was getting closer and closer with every passing second. People in the tavern were all babbling, looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.
It was Scotty, naturally, who figured it out first. “The wave generator!” he said. “At the beach front! It’s out of control! What caused th—?” But then he answered his own question as he looked at Olivan. “You! You rigged the computer somehow! That’s why your son was rootin’ around there!”
“This is a fine time to blame me, engineer,” snarled Olivan. “Everything would hav
e been fine if you hadn’t—”
And then he spun around. How he knew the attack was coming, I’ve no idea, but he just knew, that’s all. Si Cwan was coming right at him with the sword he’d taken off the wall. Olivan moved so quickly that even now, no matter how many times I run the scene back in my mind, I still can’t actually see him, you know? He was under the sword so fast, just so fast, and then he was behind Si Cwan, his arms around and through, and his hands were on the back of Si Cwan’s neck. I swear to God, just within that period of no more than two seconds, he had outmaneuvered Cwan and was about to break his neck.
It was Kalinda who saved him. She let out a screech and jumped at him, grabbing him by the back of the head. It didn’t take Olivan more than a second to deal with her, lashing out with a leg and sweeping her feet out from under her. But it was the momentary distraction that Si Cwan needed. Somehow, I don’t know how, he slipped between Olivan’s arms, and then he whipped the sword around and sliced Olivan on the leg. Olivan let out a yell of fury and clutched at it, blood seeping between his fingers. But his shout was drowned out by the yells of alarm from the other people in the tavern as the ground began to rumble even more. And we could hear the onrush of water, like someone had left a faucet running. A really, really, really big faucet. People were trampling over each other to get out.
But for all that they heard anyone else, Si Cwan and Olivan could have been alone in a desert. They faced each other—Si Cwan poised with the sword in a striking position, Olivan staring at him balefully. “You’ve gotten faster in your old age, Cwan.”
“And you’ve just gotten older,” Cwan shot back. “You had no intention of shutting down the ‘self-destruct’ program, even if you’d made it to your ship.”
