STAR TREK: Strange New Worlds I

by Dean Wesley Smith (Editor)

  “He did not.” She lowered her gaze. “But the Romulans must be made to sign that treaty with Triskelion before the Conversion. Admiral Beckett is in complete agreement with my being there.” Shahna folded her arms over her chest. “A show of strength.”

  “If the Romulans learn of the impending Conversion, your life may be in danger.” Mr. Spock relaxed his stance, and his expression softened. “It is my theory that your urgency and anxiety stem more from the great disappointment I sensed when you beamed aboard than from whether the Romulans sign the treaty or not.”

  Shahna tried not to show the embarrassment she felt at being read so easily. She was a fool to think she could mask her true intentions from a Vulcan. “You are correct. I was hoping Captain Kirk would be here.”

  “Then I am correct in assuming your true intent is to seek him out?”

  With his hand, Mr. Spock gestured to the twin sofas. “Please, sit down.”

  Once they were seated facing one another, Mr. Spock continued. “Tell me, does his scheduled appearance at [34] Starfleet Headquarters in the coming days explain the scheduling of the meeting?”

  Sighing heavily, Shahna leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. Staring at her hands, Shahna took a deep breath. “Yes, though the timing of the Conversion is also a factor. You have seen for yourself what the Providers created for us because of Captain Kirk.”

  He nodded. “I believe the Providers may have exceeded what Captain Kirk had intended.”

  “That is what we have hoped. Since the day of our freedom, I have followed Jim Kirk’s advice. Everything I have done, all of us have done, has been for him. Don’t you see? I need to see him again, and this may be my only chance. Once the Conversion is complete, I will not be able to see him again as flesh.”

  When Mr. Spock remained silent, Shahna raised her gaze to his face. “I knew he would be within reach during this time.”

  “So this treaty is not truly as important as you have implied.”

  Shahna’s expression hardened. “On the contrary. Do you know how much the Romulans frighten me, Mr. Spock? When they attacked, I realized what power they had. I also knew my own mortality. I have worked hard at building my world, believing that Jim Kirk was watching me from above as the Providers did. I want to protect what we have done from animals such as the Romulans. The treaty is very important to me. The place of the meeting merely serves a dual purpose.”

  Shahna looked down at her hands. “I wanted to see Jim Kirk. I want to tell him what I’ve learned, what I’ve accomplished. I want him to be proud of ... me.”

  [35] She was not surprised at Mr. Spock’s silence. She had spoken irrationally, emotionally, and he would not understand.

  “Then,” Mr. Spock said softly, and Shahna looked at him. “Once the meeting is over, we must make it imperative to find Captain Kirk.”

  Shahna smiled. “Thank you.” But behind that smile lurked an old fear. What if, after all this time, Captain Kirk did not want to see her? Or worse still, what if he didn’t remember her?

  The Excelsior arrived on schedule after leaving the Gamma system and began a standard orbit around Earth. Mr. Spock and Ambassador Shahna beamed directly into the heart of Starfleet where Shahna was formally introduced to the Federation president.

  “Welcome, welcome,” he said, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of her wrist. “It is an honor to meet you. I have read all of Captain Kirk’s logs repeatedly through the years. Do you realize you are somewhat of a living legend here at the academy? I half expected Captain Kirk to insist on meeting you himself.”

  Shahna felt her cheeks grow hot, and she looked down at the floor, embarrassed and disheartened.

  “Mr. President,” Mr. Spock said. “Would it be possible to set up a meeting with Captain Kirk after the meeting has concluded?”

  The president straightened his shoulders and sighed. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Captain Kirk is quite busy with the upcoming launch this afternoon. Perhaps tomorrow.”

  [36] “The ambassador must return to Triskelion tomorrow.”

  The president eyed Mr. Spock for a moment, then looked at Shahna. “Well ... we’ll see. Right now, Admiral Beckett and the others are waiting.”

  After a whirlwind of introductions made in one of the large conference rooms, Shahna eyed her opponents. Ambassador Renzel of the Romulan Star Empire was a tall, gaunt man who radiated arrogance and the look of self-taught superiority. She nodded formally to him, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the Romulan standing behind the ambassador.

  “What is he doing here?” she demanded. “This is the animal that led the attack on my world.”

  Admiral Beckett cleared his throat. “Commander Dosean has something he would like to say to you, Ambassador.”

  Dosean glanced furtively at Renzel, then took a sharp step forward. He clicked his heels together and looked straight ahead at a point above Shahna’s head. “On behalf of my vessel and her crew, and the Romulan Star Empire ... I ... apologize.” The words ground out of his mouth, and his face twisted in distaste. This apology had been forced upon him. And that, Shahna decided, could only lead to trouble.

  General Korrd of the Klingon Empire gave a hearty guffaw, and Shahna turned to him. “General, I have not been able to formally thank you for your aid in stopping the Romulan attack.” She crossed her fisted right hand over her left shoulder. “Qapla’!” she said in a powerful voice.

  General Korrd’s face gave only a flicker of amazement before he returned the salute. “An honor, Ambassador.” General Korrd turned to Mr. Spock. “Captain, it is good to see you again.”

  [37] Mr. Spock nodded. “And you, General. I must give congratulations. I understand you and your House have been returned to a place of honor in the Klingon Empire.”

  “Well ...” Admiral Beckett gestured to a dark oblong table which acted as the centerpiece to the room. “I suggest we get started.”

  Mr. Spock sat on Shahna’s right. Admiral Beckett sat at one end of the table, General Korrd at the other. Ambassador Renzel and Commander Dosean sat facing Shahna and Spock.

  “Let’s cut directly to the heart of the matter,” Admiral Beckett began. He rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. “The Provider technology.”

  Shahna watched the Romulans’ faces as she had been trained to do as a drill thrall. “Always watch your opponent’s eyes,” her thrall trainer had said. “For in them you will see the truth of their moves.” The look that passed between the two Romulans spoke volumes.

  Renzel turned a sweet smile to the admiral. “I’m afraid you’ve mistaken the purpose of this little gathering. We are here to negotiate a trading treaty.”

  “I’m afraid not, sir,” Admiral Beckett said in a tight smile of his own.

  Mr. Spock spoke up. “Sir, the attack and near invasion your people attempted on Triskelion would not logically precipitate peaceful trading. Therefore, it is the Federation’s opinion you were after the one valuable asset the thralls possess. The advanced technology left behind by the Providers, the former inhabitants of that planet.”

  Shahna watched Renzel and Mr. Spock lock their gazes together. She shook her head, knowing the futility of trying [38] to stare down a Vulcan. After several moments, the Romulan looked away. “It is a technology that demands exploitation.”

  “And,” General Korrd spoke up, “this technology, its ability to transmute thought into energy, should be exploited by the Romulan Star Empire solely?” The Klingon laughed mockingly.

  Commander Dosean slammed his fist on the table. The items on its surface shook. “Would you have the Federation alone control that power?”

  “Commander.” Admiral Beckett’s voice was quiet, but demanded authority. “The Federation has already agreed the advanced technology of the Providers shall remain in the hands of their beneficiaries, the thralls. Neither the Federation nor the Klingon Empire will touch it, though the planet is now formally under the jurisdiction of Starfle
et.”

  Ambassador Renzel glared across the table at Shahna. She forced his stare back with a powerful emerald one of her own. “So Starfleet would leave this power in the hands of children instead of sharing it with civilized races.”

  Shahna grabbed the edge of the table, her stare pulling his inward. “You dare call yourselves civilized? You?” She lifted her right hand and pointed a long, slender finger at Dosean. “Who under a banner of peace, invaded our city and nearly destroyed almost three decades of hard work? You killed dozens of thralls. I watched you murder Tamoon, with no reason.”

  Commander Dosean rose from his chair. “She killed my second.”

  “Because you killed Galt.”

  [39] “He warned the Federation.”

  Shahna rose from her chair. “On my orders,” she straightened her shoulders, “there will be no trading treaty with Romulans this day or any other.”

  “This is insane!” shouted Ambassador Renzel.

  General Korrd stood. “I see the truth of it, Romulan. You are afraid of this technology.”

  “I am afraid of nothing. I simply do not agree to children wielding such power.”

  “Children,” Mr. Spock emphasized the word, “do not. Provider One does, and he is in full agreement with the Federation.”

  Renzel and Dosean turned astonished faces to the Vulcan. “You lie. There are no more Providers. How else could we have attacked?” Commander Dosean demanded.

  “Because we trusted you. We were unschooled in the ways of treachery,” Shahna said. “Provider One will not allow that to happen again.”

  “We offer a solution,” Mr. Spock said, putting his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers together. “Consider a nonaggression treaty with Triskelion. This way, all visits to the surface would be monitored by us, and Triskelion would not use its technology against the Romulans.”

  Ambassador Renzel sat down. When Dosean did not, Renzel yanked his arm, forcing him back into his seat. “A nonaggression treaty? A coward’s peace?”

  Shahna sat down as well, her face composed, her manner poised. “It is the only condition I bring to the table. Sign the treaty.” She shrugged. “Otherwise, the fate of Romulan ships entering our space will be entirely up to the Provider.”

  [40] She watched Renzel carefully. With this new information about the Providers, the Romulan ambassador’s aggressive stance was diminishing. His expression was mixed, no longer determined, but unsure. Good, she thought, let him truly fear the technology as Korrd had guessed.

  Ambassador Renzel stood slowly, and with a bow to the admiral and General Korrd he pulled Dosean’s arm again. The commander stood, his eyes never leaving Shahna’s. “I will inform my government,” the ambassador said; then he and Dosean left the conference room.

  Admiral Beckett sat back and gave a long sigh. “Well, that went rather well, didn’t it?”

  General Korrd shook his head. “There is something wrong. I knew Renzel when he was commander. A shrewd man, and devilish. He gave in too easily.” He turned to Shahna. “Is it true the Providers are alive? I had heard they had gone away. The rumors ... ?”

  Shahna pursed her lips. “Provider One remains, but only in a limited capacity. If he could have stopped the Romulans that day, he would have.”

  General Korrd frowned. “I do not understand.”

  “The Providers are, were, an evolved race,” Mr. Spock said softly. “Their physical forms are little more than simple organs, as Captain Kirk explained in his entries of that day. But their consciousness was vast. Since the establishment of the thralls as more than athletic competitors, the Providers’ attention has turned outward, toward other realms. This is merely conjecture, I might add. Provider One remains because of his wager to Captain Kirk.”

  General Korrd looked across the table at Admiral Beckett. “Is there protection for Triskelion now?”

  [41] “The Excelsior and the Saratoga have been dispatched. They will safeguard the planet until Ambassador Shahna returns.” Admiral Beckett smiled. “We’ve already discussed the possibility of the Romulans not agreeing to the treaty.”

  “But what will prevent them from attacking even if they do?” General Korrd looked back to Shahna. “Once Provider One is gone, Triskelion will be vulnerable. Starfleet cannot guard your world indefinitely.”

  Shahna glanced at Admiral Beckett. In her eyes she asked if she should tell the Klingon more of the truth. To her surprise, the admiral nodded.

  Shahna turned to Korrd. “After tomorrow, I will be the new Provider.”

  General Korrd sat back, his mouth open. “You ... you can’t be serious.”

  “The Provider machines are what keep Triskelion alive. And that technology cannot work without a Provider at its center. Without one, all life on Triskelion would stop.”

  General Korrd looked from Shahna to Mr. Spock.

  Mr. Spock said, “Sir, the technology the Romulans so intently wish to possess has one fatal flaw. Those things brought into physical form are not permanent. The Providers have held the thought forms in place through the centuries, using their consciousness, massing energy around the forms to coalesce into matter. That is why Triskelion is barren on most of its surface. The planet itself is not habitable. The Providers’ past history has destroyed most of its landmass.

  “Once the Providers are gone, there will be no one to hold the forms in place. Shahna,” Mr. Spock said as he glanced at [42] her, “is to replace Provider One in what is called a Conversion.”

  The general shook his head. “I mean no disrespect, Ambassador, but how? It was my understanding the Providers’ minds were so advanced, so infinitely greater. How can she replace them?”

  “Forced evolution.” Shahna looked down at her hands. “Galt was to be the new Provider. But when Dosean killed him, Provider One chose me, and my change was begun. The Providers’ technology is vast, General, and I do not pretend to understand what will happen to me.

  “I know I will live several lifetimes as a Provider, giving and sustaining life, and I will be able to travel to the stars as no other has done. I will be more than what I am. I am already more than what Captain Kirk found on that planet so many years ago.” Shahna looked at the general and smiled.

  “As Provider,” Mr. Spock said, “Shahna will prevent the Romulans from attacking and taking the technology. If she does not return, the planet is indeed vulnerable.”

  “Then why this meeting?” General Korrd asked. “Why endanger yourself here, with the Romulans? If they knew the truth ...”

  “Two reasons,” Admiral Beckett said. “To establish a nonaggression treaty. The treaty would be a viable solution to keeping the peace rather than having a Provider blow a Romulan battle Cruiser from the stars.” Admiral Beckett smiled at Shahna. “And secondly, because Ambassador Shahna requested the meeting be here. After the Conversion, Shahna will cease in the body she presently inhabits. I understand she has always wanted to visit Earth. How could I refuse such a request?”

  [43] Mr. Spock stood. “Gentlemen, if you will excuse us, I believe the ambassador and I have other matters to attend to.”

  The admiral stood and smiled at Shahna. “It was a pleasure, Ambassador. I will inform you the minute I hear from the Romulans.” He looked at Korrd, who was lumbering around the table. “General, I assume you will keep what you have heard in the strictest of confidence?”

  The general bowed. “I will indeed. And I would like to offer my services as bodyguard for the ambassador.”

  Admiral Beckett shook his head. “I don’t think that will be necessary. The Romulans would be foolish to attempt an attack here at Starfleet.”

  Shahna watched General Korrd’s face. He nodded, but his eyes sought out Spock’s. Something passed between the Vulcan and the Klingon before the general left the conference room.

  Once in the corridor, Shahna turned to Mr. Spock. “Isn’t it odd that the admiral would want to tell Korrd the truth?”

  “Admiral Beckett is a tried politician.
They are a different type of human, and one I do not wish to argue with.”

  Shahna nodded, though not fully comprehending. Looking around, she asked, “Where are we going?”

  “To find Captain Kirk, of course,” Mr. Spock said.

  They walked through several hallways before stepping into a brightly lit room. The view of San Francisco Bay was a breathtaking backdrop to dimly lit tables and plush chairs. At a bar to the left sat members of several species, each dressed in regulation red and black. Mr. Spock led Shahna to one of the tables nearest the windows. She found she couldn’t take her eyes from the view.

  [44] “What is that?”

  “That,” Spock said, pulling a chair out for her, “is the Golden Gate Bridge. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check to see if Captain Kirk is here and have him paged. Hopefully he has not already left for Spacedock. The meeting ran longer than I expected.”

  Unable to stay put, Shahna rose and went to the window. She pressed the palms of her hands against the cool surface and looked down. She was not as far up as she thought. There were dozens of beings, humans and others, strolling along the walkway below. Some were seated together on benches; others were looking out at the bridge.

  A single man standing at the edge of the walkway facing the bay caught her eyes. Something in the way he stood was familiar. His dress was much like everyone else’s, red and black. His hands were locked behind his back. His feet wide apart, his shoulders straight.

  A dark-skinned woman approached him and he turned.

  Shahna’s heart stopped.

  The profile. So proud. The face. The same smile he had given her as he had touched her cheek so long ago.

  “Jim Kirk!” she screamed, pounding on the glass.

  He couldn’t hear her. She watched him embrace this woman, and in an instant Shahna knew her. Uhura. Yes, Uhura, she who had been Lars’s charge.

  Pounding on the glass again, Shahna screamed Kirk’s name. Desperate, she turned from the lounge and charged down the hallway. There had to be a way out!