by David Mack
A proximity alert chirped on the tactical console.
“Report,” Gold said, swiveling his chair.
“One ship,” Piotrowski said. “Silgov design, small. Looks like a long-range scout.”
Gomez moved to the tactical station and looked over Piotrowski’s shoulder. “Any sign of its friends?”
“Negative. It’s—” Piotrowski looked up. “It’s hailing us.”
Gold turned back toward the main viewer. This should be interesting. “On-screen.”
The Silgov woman was, by almost any human standard, eerily beautiful. Her rich, golden-brown skin was offset by a blue-black mane of intricately coiffed luxurious hair, which swept around her head like a swirling wave. Enormous, almond-shaped, jade-green eyes looked back at Gold with an expression that seemed almost innocent. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was literally glowing with vitality.
He remembered one of his first lessons from the Academy: Appearances can be deceiving.
“Hail to you, da Vinci . I am Lady Maleiras, of the Silgov scout vessel Starlit Wing.”
“Captain David Gold.” After a moment of no one saying anything, he added, “What can I do for you?”
“I am here unofficially,” she said. “My lord viceroy has not authorized the deal I am about to propose.”
“Excuse me,” Gold said, unable to restrain his ire. “Did you just say ‘deal’? Weren’t your people just shooting at me?”
Frustration tainted Maleiras’s expression. “Please forgive us, Captain. Our fleet represents the last free members of our species. Our homeworld is enslaved, and Viceroy Narjam had hoped that the Koas’s pyramid could be made into a weapon—one that we could use to free our people.”
“It’s not that I’m unsympathetic,” Gold said, “but I think you can understand why I’m reluctant to trust you.”
“Of course,” Maleiras said. “Trust must be earned.”
“That we can agree on,” Gold said.
“My people must take the first step, but Viceroy Narjam will resist. Now that the Koas pyramid is no more, he will likely lead our fleet back toward home—to endless futile skirmishes and battles of attrition…unless I can convince him to ask the Federation for help.”
“We still haven’t solved our trust issue, Lady Maleiras. I don’t think we’re quite ready to discuss foreign aid.”
“I’m certain you’ve noticed the speed of our vessels, Captain. Though our respective technologies might prove incompatible, I would be willing to permit your engineers to study my vessel while we meet in person—if you will permit my vessel to come aboard your own.”
“You would let us study your ship? Without restriction?”
“That’s what friends would do…is it not, Captain?”
Gold lifted an eyebrow. She monitored our conversation with the Koas, he realized. Maybe our reputation has preceded us once again. “And what do you ask in return?”
“A fresh start,” she said. “And a chance to take the first step toward friendship, on behalf of my people. I believe that we can help each other, Captain. We might be able to aid your mission of exploration. And you could help set my people free.”
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Gold said, “If we take this first step together, will Viceroy Narjam follow?”
Maleiras considered that for several long moments. “I will show him the way,” she said finally. “And if he will not listen, I am certain the rest of my people will.”
Gold weighed her words cautiously, balancing the risks against the rewards. Forging an alliance with a civilization in bondage could mire the Federation in a foreign conflict in which it didn’t belong, but turning the Silgov away might be the same as imposing a death sentence on an innocent people.
He recalled Sicarios’s words: To some, the idea of your Federation…is the beginning of hope.
“Lady Maleiras, we look forward to welcoming you aboard the da Vinci. Signal us for instructions when you’re ready to land.”
“Thank you, Captain. I look forward to our next step. Maleiras out.”
The captain shushed his second-guessing inner voice. Certainly, he might be taking an unadvisable risk. Perhaps this “first step” would lead the Federation into a dead-end diplomatic fiasco, or into a prolonged and bloody quagmire. But Gold chose to be optimistic: If all went well, he would forge two new alliances for the Federation today.
That would be a good day’s work, indeed.
About the Author
DAVID MACK is a writer whose work spans multiple media. With writing partner John J. Ordover, he cowrote the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Starship Down” and the story treatment for the DS9 episode “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Mack and Ordover also penned the four-issue Star Trek: Deep Space Nine / Star Trek: The Next Generation crossover comic-book miniseries Divided We Fall for WildStorm Comics. With Keith R.A. DeCandido, Mack cowrote the Star Trek: S.C.E. eBook novella Invincible, currently available in paperback as part of the collection Star Trek: S.C.E. Book 2: Miracle Workers. Mack also has made behind-the-scenes contributions to several Star Trek CD-ROM products.
Mack’s solo writing for Star Trek includes the Star Trek: New Frontier Minipedia, the trade paperback The Starfleet Survival Guide, and the best-selling, critically acclaimed two-part eBook novel Star Trek: S.C.E.: Wildfire (reprinted in the paperback compilation Star Trek: S.C.E. Book 6: Wildfire). His other Star Trek credits include “Waiting for G’Doh, or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People,” a short story for the Star Trek: New Frontier anthology No Limits, edited by Peter David; S.C.E. eBook #40: Failsafe; the short story “Twilight’s Wrath,” for the anthology Tales of the Dominion War, edited by Keith R.A. DeCandido; and the Next Generation duology A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal. He currently is working on an original novel and developing new Star Trek book ideas, including the first volume of a new series, Star Trek: Vanguard.
A graduate of NYU’s renowned film school, Mack has been to every Rush concert tour since 1982. He currently resides in New York City with his wife, Kara.
Coming Next Month:
Star Trek™: S.C.E. #50
Malefictorum
by Terri Osborne
Without warning, a member of the da Vinci crew is found dead in his quarters. Lieutenant Commander Corsi’s investigation is thorough and complete—and turns up nothing. With all the technology at Starfleet’s disposal, with all the technical expertise of the ship’s crack team of S.C.E. engineers, no forensic evidence can be found to explain the fatality. With the possibility of an unknown murderer aboard, Corsi must use all her training to solve the mystery—before another body falls….
COMING IN MARCH 2005 FROM POCKET BOOKS!
