"Well, I am. I am incredibly intimidated by it, and I don't want to lose you! I don't want you to go away!"
He took her firmly by the shoulders and the scar on his tanned cheek was bright crimson against it. "You knew I would go away,
sooner or later. I've never been anything other than honest with you about that. I'm just-"
"Passing through, I know, I know. But it's not fair! I don't want you passing through! I want you to stay here, and grow old with me, and Moke, and there's no violence, no hatred..."
"It sounds wonderful. It does. But I-"
She kissed him then. She gave him no choice, really. Her lips were hungry against his, as if she was trying to draw strength di-rectly through the contact. Her face was slick with tears, and she didn't know where to put her hands, on the back of his head or on his back. They just roamed aimlessly over his body....
And then she released him. She looked deeply into those purple eyes that she felt she could swim in endlessly, and she whispered, "She must be quite a woman... this whoever-it-is you're think-ing of when I hold you. The one I'm not." She paused, and then said softly, "I'm not stupid, you know. Somehow I always knew you were from..." She glanced heavenward. "From up there. Like Kolk'r, descended from on high..."
"I'm no deity, I assure you," he said with a faint smile. But there were no pretensions between them either, no pretending that he was simply a native of Yakaba who just looked odd. The pleas-ant fiction that allowed the more mundane, more foolish members of her race to get through the day in the serene belief that they were the premiere creatures of the galaxy.
"And she's from out there, isn't she? Wherever you come from, that's where she is, too."
"Yes."
"And she holds your heart."
"Yes. I didn't realize how much until I was truly faced with the prospect of never seeing her again."
"I envy her. Envy her a great deal. And... you might never see her again."
"That's possible," he admitted.
"Yet you would be loyal to her, even though you might never see her again."
"I wasn't thinking about being loyal to her," admitted Calhoun. "But I've found that I can't be... disloyal."
She looked down. "Do me one favor, Calhoun."
"Anything that I possibly can."
"Don't... stay here tonight. Because I think this may be your last night on this world, and knowing that you were down the hall, and I could not go to you, could not touch you or love you... I don't think I could stand that. I think that would be very cruel, and I very much doubt you have any desire to be cruel to me."
He nodded slightly. "As you wish."
He tipped his hat to her, and then walked slowly toward his luukab. She said nothing as he approached it, but simply stood there, her legs trembling, feeling as if she was going to collapse from grief any moment. But she refused to do so. She was deter-mined to stay on her own two feet and not give in to weakness. And as he climbed atop the luukab, she called to him, "I won't come into the city tomorrow. I won't be there to watch you die."
"I don't blame you," he said without turning to look at her. "I wouldn't come to watch me die either."
And on that, their last night together, he rode off into the darkness.
LEFLER
robin lefler, formerly of the starship Excalibur, stopped dead in her tracks in the lobby of the El Dorado resort and rubbed her eyes. She couldn't quite believe who she saw coming toward her.
"Commander?!?" In terms of disbelief, she also couldn't quite comprehend why she sounded, and felt, so overjoyed to see the first officer of the Excalibur coming toward her. And, even more astounding than that, Shelby actually seemed pleased to see her. Lefler had always had the opinion that Shelby felt a bit impatient with her. As if somehow Lefler wasn't measuring up to what Shelby felt an officer should be. Then her fingers flew to her lips in chagrin. "Oh, I'm sorry! Captain, I should be saying, right?"
"We'll let it go this time," Shelby said with mock gravity as she took Letter's hand in her own and shook it warmly. "It's good to see you, Robin."
"You, too, Captain. You're looking good. Command suits you, I think."
'That's what I keep telling myself. It's been..." She gave a small smile, and Robin might have imagined it, but there seemed to be pain in the smile. "It's been an interesting few months. The first month or so was the hardest."
"Why? What happened the first month?"
"Oh, the usual... averted a war, condemned some people to death. Standard stuff." She tried to sound jesting about it, but it certainly didn't come out that way. Realizing that dwelling on it might not be the best tack to take, Lefler quickly-and wisely- changed the subject.
"Are you here on Risa for shore leave?"
"Actually, no." They sauntered over to a nicely cushioned couch situated near a splashing waterfall. Shelby glanced at the waterfall and chuckled.
"I know, I know, it's a bit much," said Robin. "But believe it or not, you get used to it. So," and they sat on the couch, "if not shore leave, why are you here?"
"Well, there's a ceremony coming up that you've been invited to,
but you haven't been responding to Starfleet communiques about it.
"Ohhh," moaned Lefler. "I'm so sorry about that. We had some, uhm... unpleasantness here on Risa. Major... unpleasantness. It knocked out systems for quite a while. In fact, we're still doing repair work on it. This entire lobby," and she indicated the space around them, "was nothing short of a disaster area. Took ages to get it back into shape. In any event, our communications grid has been spotty. A lot of transmissions have been lost. But hey... at least I knew to inform Starfleet of where I was heading off to, so they'd know to send you here. I assume that's what happened."
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."
Letter'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 chris-tening 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 FU 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 natu-rally 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 Letter'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 teU 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... in-teresting 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 stay-ing 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 ex-tremely 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 en-riching 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 Oli-van, because Olivan had killed a beloved teacher of Si Cwan's... a man named Jereme, who had also been a teacher of Olivan's. Ex-cept 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 ex-pecting any sort of trouble, he had prepared for it nevertheless. And he said, 1 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 be-come one gargantuan death trap. I am the only one who can stop it. If you kill me, SiCwan... 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. Fdr 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 Tap-inza'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 en-deavored 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 ar-rogant-?"
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 land, 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 vigor-ously. "Purest happenstance. But one becomes successful by see-ing 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 fa
cing 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, tap-ping 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."
Star Trek - NF - 11 - Restoration Page 31
