“I think Jean-Luc is right,” Walker said. “She looks interested.”
“They’re always interested in the real ones,” Crusher said. He was a little insecure when it came to women, although in this case, he was right: actual Starfleet officers were considered something of celebrities on this world, which was one reason why it was such a popular shore leave destination.
“How did this place get like this?” Crusher said.
“Oh, no,” Walker said. “Why are you going to bring that up? Now we’re going to have to listen to another Starfleet legend…”
“It’s an amazing tale,” I said. “A starship discovers the planet, which, a century earlier, had been contaminated by its exposure to the history of 20th-century Earth. Everyone on the planet acting like Al Capone…”
“Who’s Al Capone?” Crusher said.
“This is going to take forever…” Walker said.
“It’s not,” I said, though I’d had a few drinks and was having a little trouble staying succinct. This was true alcohol, and though I’d been raised on it, I hadn’t had much since I’d left home. “Now, where was I… oh, yes, so, the starship shows up and tries to fix the contamination, but all that happened was that he altered the contamination… but he saved these people by doing that…”
“So instead of pretending they’re El Cabone…”
“Al Capone.”
“Al Cabone, instead everyone pretends they’re in Starfleet,” Crusher said. “That’s better?”
“It is,” I said. “Much better. They used to kill each other every day; now their focus is on education, diversity, and a brighter future. That’s what a captain’s supposed to do, fix things…” I’d had too much to drink, but I was enjoying myself. During my lecture however, I’d failed to notice the woman making her way over until she was already talking to Jack.
“I was wondering if we could have a drink,” she said, looking him in the eye. He smiled.
“I’m here with my friends,” he said. “Sorry.” She shrugged and walked off. Walker slapped his palm into his forehead.
“What the hell, Jack?”
“Guys,” Crusher said, “I’m not going to meet the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with in a fake Starfleet bar on some nutty planet.” Through my liquored haze, I admired this grounded but also romantic view of the world. He did not need womanizing conquests to buttress his self-esteem. It made me think that perhaps I was the insecure one. The thought faded, and I decided to resume my good time.
“Another round!” I shouted to the bartender.
* * *
“The government of Tzenketh is accusing us of spying on them,” Admiral Sulu said. “They say they’ve captured a Federation insertion team, and that they’re going to execute them.”
“Are we spying on them?” It was an obvious question, though it seemed to catch Admiral Sulu off guard. She was tightly framed on the viewscreen in my quarters, and I noticed that she glanced away; there must be someone else in her office. She quickly looked back at me.
“Whoever they have captured are not Federation spies,” she said. She hadn’t quite answered the question, but there was no need for me to pursue it. “We need you to go there immediately, Jean-Luc. They’ve specifically asked for Stargazer to parlay for their release.”
“Really? Do we know why?”
“Stargazer made first contact ten years ago, that might have something to do with it. Check your former captain’s logs. But above all, you need to get those hostages out safely.”
“I understand, Admiral.”
“I’m not sure you do,” she said. “You’ve got to get them out with the permission of the Tzenkethi government. No rescues—we need to keep the peace.”
“Yes, Admiral,” I said, and then we signed off. I called the bridge and ordered Walker to set a course for Tzenketh, while I stayed in my quarters and did some research.
Captain Laughton’s logs contained some information on the Tzenkethi, all of which was now part of the Federation database. They had an unusual appearance for bipeds: they had four arms—two for strength and two smaller ones for more meticulous work. Their skin resembled a rhinoceros hide and their heads were similar to that of a hadrosaur, with a large duckbill sweeping back behind them. They were fierce creatures who had managed to venture out into space and achieved warp drive shortly before Stargazer’s encounter with them. But on the subject of the events of the actual first contact, Laughton’s logs were disappointingly sparse. There were no clues as to why the Tzenkethi would ask for the Stargazer.
I went to the bridge and informed the command crew of our mission. We were still an hour away from the Tzenkethi system when Crusher picked up three of their ships closing in on our position.
“Their speed is warp 6,” he said. I turned to Walker.
“When Stargazer discovered them ten years ago, they were only capable of warp 2,” I said. I’d just read that in Laughton’s log.
“Maybe we should be spying,” Walker said.
“Captain,” Cheva said, “they’re locking weapons. Looks like they’ve got disruptor cannons…”
“Shields up,” I said.
“Their ships had projectile weapons back then, too,” Walker said.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” I said. I got a strange look from Crusher. “It’s from Alice in Wonderland.” His expression told me he’d never heard of it.
“Receiving a message, sir,” Black said. “Audio only. They’re ordering us to follow them to orbit.”
“Acknowledge the message,” I said. “Crusher, follow them in. Lieutenant Cheva, conduct a discreet scan of those ships. I want as much information as you can get.”
We followed the ships into a standard orbit, and I was almost immediately talking to the leader of their world, called the Autarch, named Sulick. His large head nearly filled the viewscreen. He wore a gold helmet that fit over the duckbill on top of his skull. The image was both frightening and comical.
“We have your spies, Federation,” Sulick said.
“I can assure you, Autarch Sulick, they are not spies.”
“They were digging a secret base to carry out attacks on us. They thought by choosing a forgotten part of our land we wouldn’t detect them.” Digging a base? This didn’t provide me any clues as to who the prisoners might be.
“What did they say they were doing when you caught them?”
“Their lies matter not,” Sulick said. I had to cut to the meat of things.
“Sulick, what can I do to secure their release?”
“We will trade the spies for Laughton,” Sulick said. I exchanged a look with Walker. That’s why they asked for Stargazer, and they didn’t know that Laughton was dead.
“Why do you want Laughton?”
“I was commander of the ship that met Laughton when he was here. He will know why I want him,” Sulick said. “Once he is here, you may have your hostages.”
“And if Laughton cannot come to you?”
“Then they are dead.”
“I will get back to you shortly.” I gave Black the cut sign, and Sulick disappeared from the screen.
“You can’t lie to them,” Walker said.
“I know,” I said. “But if I tell the truth, that Laughton’s dead, there’s a good chance they’ll think I’m lying and kill whoever it is they have down there.” I needed more information about what happened when the Stargazer visited the first time. It was then I remembered that there was one crewmember on board who might be able to fill in some of the blanks. I ordered Scully to come to the bridge.
“Stupid, mean creatures,” Scully said. “How they ever got into space is beyond me. Their ship was two hundred years behind ours, but they came at us guns blazing.”
“What did the captain do?” I said.
“Laughed at ’em,” Scully said. “He let them fire off all their projectile weapons, and once they bounced off our shields, he figured they’d be more willing to talk.”
“Were t
hey?” I said. Scully laughed.
“Nope,” Scully said. “So the captain decided to have a little fun with them. He locked onto the ship with a tractor beam and took it for a ride. See, their ships were maybe capable of warp 2—that day they broke the warp 5 barrier.” It was unlikely that a primitive warp ship could internally handle that speed; the crew was undoubtedly bounced around, if not worse. I’d come to accept that Laughton lived by a different set of rules than most starship captains yet was also always surprised how far he’d taken things.
“Fun with them?” Walker said. “He completely humiliated them.”
“And unlucky for us, the captain of that ship is now in charge,” I said. There was a lot going on here: hostages being accused as spies, a considerable technological leap by a hostile species, and a mess left by my predecessor. It seemed an unwinnable situation. And then a thought occurred to me.
“Cheva, what’s their sensor capability?”
“Not as advanced as ours,” she said. “They can detect life signs and species. Roughly equivalent to our 22nd-century technology.” That was what I needed to hear.
“Poker faces everyone,” I said. “Black, open a hailing frequency.” Sulick was back on the screen.
“Well, human, what is your decision?”
“Captain Laughton has agreed to turn himself over to you,” I said. “In exchange for the hostages.” Despite my order that everyone put on their poker faces, Walker glanced at me with some surprise. Fortunately, I don’t think the Tzenkethi had the ability to read human expressions.
“Very well,” Sulick said. “Have him use your transporter to beam down, then we will give you coordinates—”
“I’m afraid we need a little more of a guarantee,” I said. “So Captain Laughton will board one of our shuttlecraft and leave the Stargazer. Once he does, you must give us the coordinates for the hostages, or he will return to the ship.” I saw Sulick consider this proposal.
“Agreed,” Sulick said. I had Black cut off the transmission, and briefed everyone on my plan.
Thirty minutes later, we watched a shuttlecraft leave the hangar deck and hold station a few hundred meters from Stargazer.
“Shuttlecraft Tyson to Stargazer, I’ve cleared the hangar deck.” It was Laughton’s voice on the intercom; it was a simple program Crusher had put into the shuttle’s main computer. It duplicated Laughton’s voice and gave programmed responses. There was also a transmitter on board that was fooling the Tzenkethi sensor into believing they detected a human male at the helm. Cheva reported that the Tzenkethi were scanning the shuttlecraft.
“Acknowledged,” I said. “Tzenkethi vessel, transmit the hostage coordinates.” There was a pause, and then Black nodded that he’d received the transmission. I had him send the coordinates to the transporter room. A short time later, Scully called from there to report the hostages were aboard.
“Stargazer to shuttlecraft Tyson,” I said. “The hostages have been recovered.”
“Acknowledged,” Laughton’s voice said.
The shuttle started to move toward the lead Tzenkethi ship, and then suddenly took a sharp turn away.
“Shuttlecraft Tyson,” I said, “return to your course immediately, acknowledge.” Then for a little more drama, “Acknowledge, damn you!” I watched as the Tzenkethi craft moved in pursuit of the shuttle, and had Black turn off the speaker.
“Make it look good, Mr. Crusher,” I said. Crusher nodded. He had control of the shuttle from his console, and put the shuttle through a series of evasive maneuvers, eventually taking it out of orbit. I signaled Black to put me back on hailing frequency.
“Laughton, you’ll never make it!” After Black cut me off again, I turned to Walker. “Too much?”
“We’re about to see…” he said. We watched the screen as the Tzenkethi ship fired on the shuttle. It was destroyed in a single blast. After what I determined to be a pause that would convey confusion on my ship, I had Black connect us. Sulick came back on the screen.
“Sulick, I must protest this attack,” I said.
“We have what we wanted, Picard,” he said. “And you have what you wanted. Now withdraw.” He disappeared from the screen. I smiled at my crew. “Well done, everyone. Mr. Crusher, set a course for Starbase 32.”
I left the bridge to find out who the hostages were. I was very proud of myself. I’d pulled off a clever ruse that had saved innocent lives and done it with a bit of flare, like my heroes had done before me. I was becoming the kind of captain I wanted to be.
I found the hostages in sickbay, getting a physical from Ailat, and was in for another surprise.
“Mr. Picard,” Professor Galen said. He was sitting on a diagnostic bed as Ailat scanned him with a medical tricorder. Three other people were there, one Vulcan female and two human men, all much younger than him.
“Professor Galen,” I said. “It’s a pleasure to see you.” I offered a warm handshake; his response was cold and perfunctory.
“I suppose we have you to thank for our lives,” he said. There was no gratitude in his voice.
“Yes,” I said. I was about to tell him how we’d done it, but could see he wasn’t interested, so I decided instead to satisfy my own curiosity. “What were you doing on Tzenketh?”
“During my Dinasian dig, I discovered an ancient text with a star map that, once I compensated for stellar drift, led to Tzenketh. There was an Iconian base on this planet. My team and I would have found it before we were captured by the natives.”
“Did you ask for permission…?”
“Permission? For what? I wasn’t coming to steal anything; I would’ve shared everything I discovered. I’m not Starfleet, barging in with phasers blasting.” That last remark was directed at me. I realized that when I had turned down his offer all those years ago, though he hadn’t shown any resentment over my decision, it was clear it had been there.
“Well,” I said, “I’m glad you’re all right. We’ll do our best to make you comfortable while you’re here.”
“Thank you, Mr. Picard.” I wanted to tell him it was Captain Picard but decided against it. I nodded and walked out, leaving him, and that piece of my past, behind.
1 EDITOR’S NOTE: Picard’s concern about entering the Neutral Zone dates back to the treaty negotiated at the end of the Romulan War in 2160. The Neutral Zone was a border area between the Federation and Romulan Empire. The treaty states that entry into it by either Federation or Romulan ships constituted an act of war.
CHAPTER SIX
“MOTHER IS VERY ILL,” ROBERT SAID. “She may die soon.”
He stared at me from the viewscreen, locked up with grief. I was in shock. She was only 68.
“What’s happened?” I stared at Robert. Hard physical labor in the sunlight had caused him to age quite a bit in the fifteen years since I’d left Earth.
“Something called Irumodic Syndrome,” he said. “She hasn’t been herself for some time. You wouldn’t know that, of course.” Though his physical appearance was different, his bitterness toward me had not diminished. I also felt a pang of guilt; I had been diligent in staying in contact with Mother, but the last few months had been busy and I hadn’t spoken to her.
“Fortunately, we are on our way back,” I said. “I should be there in a few days.”
“Very convenient for you,” he said.
“How is Father?”
“How do you think? His wife is dying.” I saw now that Robert had no interest in talking to me, but that familial obligation required that he call to tell me of our mother’s condition. I decided to put him out of his misery.
“I will let you know when I achieve orbit,” I said. “Please update me if her condition worsens.” Robert nodded and the transmission ended. I then called Dr. Ailat, and asked her what she knew about Irumodic Syndrome.
“It is a neurological disorder,” Ailat said. “It can have varying symptoms as it deteriorates the synaptic pathways.”
“Is it always fatal?”
“Yes, though there are many cases where humans survive for many years with it. Do you know someone who has it?”
“Yes,” I said, but decided not to reveal my personal reasons for asking, and signed off. I went to the bridge.
“Status?”
“On course, Captain,” Walker said, “Holding at warp 6, ETA to the Sol system in 97.1 hours.”
“Increase speed to warp 8,” I said. Walker stared at me briefly, then gave the order. Nine years as my first officer, he knew me well enough not to ask why Robert had called, and why we were increasing speed.
Almost a decade of exploration, and we were finally heading back to Earth. The Stargazer under my command had been a success, and we’d been ordered home, though I wasn’t exactly sure why. The ship would be in dry dock for several weeks to finally receive upgrades that had been put off since the day I took over. My hope was that I would be moving on to a new ship. I loved the Stargazer— it held a special place as my first command—but I was also looking forward to piloting something that wasn’t always on the verge of breaking down.
A day and a half later, as we passed Saturn’s familiar rings, I was reminded how much I missed Earth. I’d seen many wonders out on the Galactic rim, but the familiar planets of our home solar system offered a strange kind of comfort.
“Passing Luna,” Crusher said. We passed the moon, and Earth filled our view. There was an audible sigh from the bridge crew. Home.
Spacedock gave us clearance, and we entered the huge bay. Inside, I saw something that made me gape with envy.
“Will you look at that,” Black said.
“That’s the Horatio,” I said. “Ambassador-class vessel, fresh off the assembly line.” The clean blue lines, grand saucer, and sleek engines made the Stargazer look like the jalopy it was. I secretly hoped that I’d be offered command of that ship.
STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JEAN-LUC PICARD Page 15
