by David
named Hjalmar Foch at the conn. "Still headed
directly for atmospheric entry. Suggest
we fire soon, sir."
"M'dok ships, this is Captain Picard.
Your actions are clearly hostile. You must
withdraw from the red zone. I am empowered
by Starfleet Command to enforce this order with whatever
action I deem necessary."
Still there was no reply. Picard said,
"M'dok ships, if you do not withdraw immediately,
we will be forced to open fire." He turned
to Foch and said, "Mr. Foch, at my order,
one-second burst at each ship, with
all phasers at lowest power."
"Aye, sir," the young Andorian said with an
eagerness that disturbed Picard.
Worf said, "M'dok ships continuing their
approach, Captain."
"Fire phasers," Picard growled.
"Why?" he muttered to himself. "They must know
by now that we can destroy them if we have to."
He was oblivious of the whoosh of the
turbolift doors, which opened to admit
Counselor Deanna Troi to the bridge.
She made her way to her usual seat.
On the viewscreen, two brilliant
beams of light speared across the blackness of
space, obscuring the starfield as the computer
controlling the visual display instantly lowered
the illumination level to compensate for the bright
flash. The beams diverged slightly, vanishing
into what was, to the human eye, empty
space.
"Two direct hits," Worf said
calmly. "No damage to either ship."
Foch said, "Both changing course now,
sir." There was a strained silence on the
bridge, during which the computer collected
sensor readings on the two M'dok ships.
Finally Foch said, "Projection is that they're
transferring to geosynchronous orbit, sir."
Picard pursed his lips. "Interesting.
Raise our own orbit to geosynchronous,
Ensign. We'll keep them in line of sight.
And, Mr. Data, keep trying to contact
them."
"Yes, sir. Captain Sejanus has
requested that you speak with him, sir. As soon
as you're free, he said."
"I'm ready now, Data."
"Yes, sir."
Sejanus filled the main viewscreen,
replacing the two M'dok ships. "Well
done, Captain. But why fire your phasers with
no intent to damage or destroy the target?"
Picard rose and stood before the main
viewscreen, dwarfed by Sejanus' face, the
image of which filled the screen. But even though
the image made Sejanus seem like a giant
towering over the merely human Jean-Luc
Picard, the Earthman met those giant eyes
and held them in a contest of equals.
Watching, Troi was struck by the
way any meeting between the two men, whether
face-to-face or by means of electronic
imaging, always contained an element of
confrontation. They're too much the same,
she thought. The same, but different. There's
always mutual respect, but also a contest of
wills--brothers and rivals.
"I choose to appeal to their intelligence and
good sense," Picard said. "If they make
any move to attack Tenara, the Enterprise
will be within phaser range. That will force them
to keep up their shields, which will prevent them from
either launching a shuttle toward the surface of
Tenara or beaming anyone down to the planet."
"Stalemate," Sejanus said.
Picard nodded. "That's all that's really
needed, Captain. The M'dok will realize that
it's pointless to stay here in hopes of eluding us
and they'll leave, carrying that message back with
them."
"Well-thought-out," Sejanus said. "Te
saluto." I salute you. "Not how a
Roman would approach the problem, but I
believe it is a worthwhile strategy."
The giant face faded away, and the
Enterprise bridge crew saw the seemingly
empty starfield once again.
Picard relaxed. Only now did he
realize how tense he had been during his
conversation with Sejanus. "Magnification," he
called out. "Let's keep an eye on those
ships."
The viewscreen display rippled, and then
both M'dok ships appeared. The blurring of
deflector shields surrounded both.
Picard nodded in satisfaction. "They're
not taking any chances. Well, that's what we
want. Conn, what's our trajectory
relative to theirs?"
"Transfer to geosynchronous orbit under
way, sir," Foch replied.
"Mr. Worf, constant surveillance of
both M'dok ships. I want no
surprises."
"Yes, Captain." Worf was hesitant
to speak out on the subject troubling him, but he
forced himself to do so. "Captain, may I ask a
question?"
"Of course, Lieutenant."
"Sir, Captain Sejanus
seemed to be advocating a direct attack
on the M'dok ships. It would be possible
to follow that advice without causing death or
injury to the M'dok, but rather just enough damage
to frighten them away from Tenara. As it stands,
we're tying down the manpower and scientific
resources of the Enterprise just to keep these
two ships under surveillance."
Picard was impatient. "Your question,
Lieutenant?"
"Why don't we attack them, sir?"
"Because of who we are, Lieutenant."
Unsatisfactory as that answer might be,
for the moment it would have to do. Before Worf could say
anything else, Picard turned to Deanna
Troi. "Counselor, can I see you in the
ready room?"
"Of course, Captain." The Betazoid
followed Picard off the bridge. When the
door had shut behind them, cutting them off from the
sight and hearing of the crew, she said,
"Captain, you seem as worried about Captain
Sejanus as you are about the M'dok."
Picard bristled. "I asked you in here
to obtain your opinion, Counselor," he
snapped, "not to have you analyze me!"
Almost immediately, he apologized. "Sorry.
You're right, of course."
He went behind his desk and fell into his
chair. He gestured toward a chair facing the
desk, and Troi sat down. Though she moved
far more gracefully than the captain had, her
tension and fatigue almost matched his, because at
such close quarters, she felt almost
overwhelmed by the powerful negative emotions
Picard was transmitting.
He said, "I need to be sure that I'm
following the best tactics."
Deanna gestured helplessly. "I can't
advise you on that, Captain."
"No, no, of course not," he said quickly.
"Nor would I want you to try. Someone said a
long time ago that if a starship captain has
to order his ship to fire on another ship, then
he's alr
eady failed in his mission. I suppose
that's only a generalization, but you know what they
say about generalizations."
"No, Captain. What do they say?"
Picard smiled suddenly. "That no
generalization is worth a damn,
including this one." His expression grew grim
once more. "The choice not to fire on an enemy
can be as momentous as the choice to fire. Either can
lead to war, either can result in the destruction of a
civilization. It's not a morally simple
question."
"Few moral questions are simple,"
Deanna observed.
Picard grunted. Then he said, "I grew
up surrounded by cats."
The remark might have seemed irrelevant
to anyone else, but Deanna sensed its
significance, and she waited patiently.
"My parents were unusual in that way." He
smiled at the memory. "Some of our
neighbors thought they were eccentric. Anyway,
they loved both cats and dogs, but cats
especially. I grew to love the beasts too,
despite the way the creatures destroyed my
belongings." He looked at Troi sharply.
"I don't mean that I'm confusing the M'dok
with the pets I remember from childhood."
"I understand that, Captain. Go on,
please."
"What always struck me," Picard said,
"was the way our cats watched me to see
whether or not I was watching them. As long as they
knew I was observing them, they behaved themselves.
However, as soon as they thought my attention was
directed elsewhere, they would head straight for
my room and tear things up. That trait, the
M'dok share with them not exactly deviousness,
but rather an aptitude for finding the moment when our
attention is diverted. So I want the
M'dok to know that we're watching them constantly
--that our eyes are not directed elsewhere."
"But you worry about leaving Captain
Sejanus behind by himself," Troi concluded.
Picard nodded, mildly surprised at his
counselor's intuition. "It's absurd I
should feel this way! The man's a Starfleet
captain with a brilliant record, commanding a
Starfleet ship. And yet I find myself
reacting as though he were something else
entirely."
"As you know, Captain, I cannot read
minds," Deanna said carefully. "I can't
tell you what Captain Sejanus actually
thinks, sir. All I can do is sense
feelings, emotions, attitudes--
none of which, I'm afraid, can tell you any more
than you already know."
Picard nodded wordlessly.
"The line-of-sight view between ships is
psychologically important in sensitive
security situations," Picard said
obliquely. "Every starship captain knows that.
With Enterprise in geosynchronous orbit and
Centurion in standard parking orbit,
Sejanus will be out of our direct view
roughly two-thirds of the time." He said no more,
but he radiated unhappiness and worry.
"Sir, something puzzles me," Deanna
said. "After their previous attack ended in the
destruction of their ship, why have the M'dok
tried to attack Tenara again? Surely they can
see it's pointless."
"It would be pointless for us," Picard
replied. He sat on the corner of his desk
and stared in thought at the wall opposite. On
it was a small framed photograph of Mont
St. Michel at high tide, bathed in
brilliant sunlight. The ancient monastery
had been a favorite of the Picard family
during Jean-Luc's childhood, a place
they had visited frequently, and usually he
found the photograph re/lly nostalgic.
This time, he didn't even see it. Instead,
he saw bloody images of M'dok raids
on peaceful farming villages.
Picard shook his head as if that could ward off
those terrible images. "The M'dok are a
different species. Completely different.
They do not reason as human beings do. All we
can do is observe their behavior and react to it
when necessary. To predict their behavior, we can
rely only on experience of their past
behavior, not upon logic or our familiarity
with our own ways of thinking."
All of this was of course elementary to
Deanna Troi, but she knew that Picard
wasn't really lecturing her. He was thinking out
loud, working his way toward some conclusion.
"Certain things are basic to all
creatures," he continued. "Hunger is one.
This famine in their empire is terribly
severe. It may be that the M'dok are mad with
hunger. Or they may feel humiliated by their
earlier defeat." He paused, then added with
trepidation in his voice, "Their
defeat at the hands of Captain Sejanus.
"The final possibility is that they may be
quite unaware of what happened to that other ship. It
may not have sent any kind of message back
home before Sejanus destroyed it. In which
ca se," Picard added, "Sejanus should not have
destroyed that ship. I'd much prefer that the
M'dok be warned and undertake no further
attacks."
"Captain Sejanus' own cultural
background may make it impossible for him
to see that," Deanna warned.
"Yes. That's what I'm afraid of."
Picard grimaced. "If only we knew more
about him ..." He snapped his fingers and pushed
a button on his desk.
"Mr. Data," Picard said.
The android's voice came over the
intercom. "Yes, sir?"
"I'd like you to research something for me in our
historical data base."
"Of course, Captain."
Picard paced slowly about in the wide
space between his seat and the operations console.
"I'm interested in knowing more about a clan on
Magna Roma called the Volcinii gens.
At least, I assume it's a clan; that's
what "gens" meant in ancient Latin.
I want to know about their past, their present, and
their cultural significance."
"I will do my best, sir," Data
replied.
"I know you will, Lieutenant." Picard
closed the channel and looked up at
Deanna. "Is there anything else,
Counselor?"
"Well ... yes, sir. It seems to me
that normally, with two ships like ours stationed together
this way, there'd be a great deal of fraternization
between the two crews. But with the Enterprise and the
Centurion, that has never happened. I was just
wondering if that was your decision or Captain
Sejanus'. If you don't mind my asking."
Picard grunted. "I do mind, but I've
found that you tend to ask anyway."
"Yes, sir. It's my duty."
"And your inclination?"
"Perhaps my nature, sir."
Picard smiled, then laughed. "Fair
enough, Counselor. The truth
of the
matter is that I've not initiated any kind of
joint social activities between the crews, and
I've managed to avoid approving any
requests for such activities that have come my
way. I admit readily that my reasons
aren't based entirely on reason. I
respect Sejanus professionally, but I
dislike him personally. Admittedly, this is
an irrational basis for command decisions. I
must tell you that the Centurion hasn't made
any overtures to us for social events, either.
Perhaps Sejanus feels the same way toward
me. Is that the explanation you expected,
Counselor?"
"Pretty much," she admitted.
"Captain, I would like your permission
to initiate such activities with the Centurion
--on a limited basis."
"What do you suggest?"
"Well, first I'd like to visit the
Centurion, talk to their ship's counselor,
maybe Captain Sejanus as well."
"I can read your mind," Picard suggested with
some irony. "You want to visit the
Centurion and see what Sejanus is
really made of."
Deanna smiled. "I wish I could see
that much. But, yes, I would like to speak to him in
person to get more of a sense of his true self.
For a number of reasons, sir." She told
Picard about her meeting with Jenny.
"I would hate to lose an officer like de
Luz," Picard said.
"So do I have your permission to visit the
Centurion?"
"Very well, Deanna."
As she turned to go, Picard was suddenly
seized with the urge to tell her to be careful.
Ridiculous.
During the hours that followed, the
Enterprise kept a geosynchronous
orbit, with the two M'dok ships always within
direct line-of-sight sensor view. Under
Picard's standing orders, whenever either M'dok
ship dropped its shields, the Enterprise
increased the power to its own shields and
approached closer to the M'dok ship in question.
Each time, the M'dok responded by quickly
raising their shields again. As Picard
had intended, the M'dok could not use their
phasers or transporters, and their power
levels were slowly but steadily decreasing.
Sooner or later, Picard hoped, they would
give up and leave Tenaran space, headed for
home.
Or something else would happen.
"Civis Tenarus sum," the little boy
said carefully, frowning at the floor. Then he
looked up quickly at Marcus, seated in the
teacher's chair at the front of the classroom.
They were using the large room that occupied the
