But thinking in terms of the squales’ Song of Life brought her a different perspective. To them, everything that happened in life was a part of the flow and rhythm of the Song. Every event was a note in a greater symphony, progressing from what had come before. True, there could be dissonance, but that was a part of music too, tension leading to an inevitable resolution.
What if everything that’s happened in my life was part of a bigger purpose?she wondered. The way she had rejected her family’s example and become self-indulgent and irresponsible, which had led her to seduce countless visitors from space and alienate her from her own people, which had pushed her to leave Pacifica, which had brought her to Starfleet Academy on a quest to become responsible at last, which had put her aboard Titanand led her here to Droplet…maybe all of these events were notes in the cosmic song, the requirements of harmony arranging the melody of her life, inexorably guiding her to this point. Maybe this is where I’m meant to be.
But what about the captain?she asked herself. He would never believe that for himself.
But the bottom line was, they might very well have no choice. Whether or not Riker could be happy with that, Aili knew that she could.
And if it came to that…maybe she could help bring him around.
CHAPTER F
OURTEEN
LUMBU
By the time Tuvok’s team arrived in the UFC 86659 system, Ree and his captives had been on the surface of Lumbu for nearly twenty-one hours, evidently besieged within a local hospital in the nation-state of Lirht. Once Ellec Krotine had tapped into the signal leakage from the city’s land-line audio communications system to listen in on the local authorities, Tuvok reflected that it was fortunate the Lumbuans were a people predisposed to philosophy and discussion above action. Even now, more than a local day into the crisis, the police commander on the scene, her chief, and their mayor were still locked into an involved debate over the best way to negotiate with an alien monster—with sidebar discussions about whether Ree’s origin was extraplanetary or paranormal, and what either possibility might reveal about the nature of existence. If anything, the mayor seemed more interested in capturing Ree and the women in order to interrogate them on the meaning of life and the truth of the cosmos than in ending the immediate threat Ree posed to the hospital staff. As for the siege commander, she seemed content to try out new negotiation tactics indefinitely so long as no imminent mortal threat to the hostages arose, and if anything seemed to be quite stimulated by the intellectual challenge. Admirable in principle,Tuvok thought, but somewhat paralyzing in a crisis. Luckily, that works in our favor.
On the negative side, the police chief was rather eloquently arguing the position that this incident was too ontologically important for city officials to handle and that federal assistance should be sought. While news of the incident had been reported by wire to the national news services, it was apparently not being taken seriously in the absence of concrete evidence. The Lirhten military was monitoring the reports in case they were proven legitimate, but was currently on alert due to tensions with a neighboring nation-state and had not assigned the situation a high priority. Had this world been a generation more advanced, with the capacity for live video broadcasting, the situation would have been rather worse. However, the police chief was proposing that photographic evidence and eyewitnesses be flown by propeller-driven aircraft to the regional capital in order to persuade the government to supply soldiers, diplomats, and philosophers to address the crisis. If that happened, it would worsen the Prime Directive violation. If Tuvok could end this situation while it remained isolated and leave no physical evidence behind, the incident would likely become a local legend and have no global effect. But if a major government gained proof of alien life, the contamination would be far worse. Moreover, given the current tensions between Lirht and its neighbor, dividing the attention of the Lirhten military could weaken their position and lead to the conquest of their nation. It would probably not be a very bloody conquest, but it would be a major political change caused by a Starfleet presence on the planet, and that was unacceptable.
The police chief was close to winning the debate, leaving Tuvok no choice but to act. “Rig the warp core to emit a magneton pulse,” he ordered Krotine, whose years aboard an S.C.E. vessel had given her more engineering experience than the others on his team. “It should be sufficient to knock out the power systems citywide and prevent them from summoning outside help.”
“But what about the hospital?” Ensign Hriss asked. “What if Counselor Troi needs that power?”
“The hospital should have an emergency generator,” he told her. “Failing that, Starfleet equipment should be unaffected.”
“And if the hospital does shut down,” Chief Dennisar opined in his deep voice, “maybe that will make Ree abandon the place, come out in the open.”
“Unlikely,” Tuvok told the hulking Orion. “Doctor Ree is a resourceful individual, and he clearly feels the hospital is the safest place for his patient. He will adapt rather than retreat.”
“Predators don’t like taking unnecessary risks,” Hriss observed; as a predator herself, the Caitian spoke from experience. “They tend to retreat when faced with unexpected opposition.”
“As a rule, yes. But I believe Ree is in the paternal guardian mode of a Pahkwa-thanh male. In that mode, the survival of the child overrides individual safety. His instinct will be to stand his ground.”
Just as Elieth stood his ground to protect the people of Deneva,he thought. Just as I would have stood my ground to protect him…if only I could have.He understood very well how Ree thought right now. And he would be just as ruthless in protecting Counselor Troi and her child, if Ree forced him to.