“Unfortunately, Romulan participation looks like a moot point right now,” Riker replied, once again completely serious. “It looks like you and Dr. Ra-Havreii are going to have to find some other way to generate the power you’ll need.”
Norellis considered the spectacular explosions everyone had witnessed on the bridge viewscreen. He began to wonder if it might be possible to harness thatenergy somehow. Too bad I’m not a dedicated physics guy,he thought, turning the idea over and over in his mind.
“Are you really going to attempt this, Captain?” Akaar asked, interrupting Norellis’s reverie.
Riker stood, though he still had to look up to meet the iron-haired admiral’s stony gaze. “Until a better idea comes along, I want to have every contingency plan up and ready to execute. Do you have any objections, sir?”
Norellis wasn’t sure, but he thought for a moment that he saw Akaar smiling, though very faintly. “None at all, Captain. Whenever possible, I like to extend Prime Directive protection to Starfleet captains by not interfering any more than absolutely necessary. Please keep me advised as to—”
The desk’s comm unit spoke up then, issuing Lieutenant Rager’s voice. “Bridge to Captain Riker. We have incoming ships. Dozens of warp signatures. At least fifty vessels.”
Norellis felt another jolt of cold fear, though he was surprised that it had taken so long for the Neyel military to react to Titan’s presence over the catastrophe-besieged planet Oghen. Would the Neyel ships simply lash out, shooting first and asking questions later?
Riker touched his combadge. “Neyel vessels, Lieutenant?”
There was a pause, presumably while Rager checked her console readouts. Then: “No, sir. They’reRomulan .”
“I’ll be damned,” Riker said. “Hail Donatra and Suran, Sariel, and pipe them in here.” Shortly after Riker tapped the combadge channel closed, the computer atop his desk exchanged its neutral white-on-blue Federation seal for the anxious face of Commander Donatra.
“Do you require assistance, Captain Riker?”
Riker grinned broadly at the impassive Romulan. “Sometimes I think I’ve needed assistance every time we’ve ever seen one another, Commander. And yes, we can use all the help you can give us. How is your fleet at performing planetary evacuations and towing ten-kilometer-long hollow asteroids?”
“I believe we can manage,”Donatra said, her lips curling upward slightly in a sly half-smile. That looks downright creepy on someone who looks so much like a Vulcan,Norellis thought.
A thoughtful expression crossed Riker’s face. “I hope you don’t mind my asking, Commander, but what changed your mind?”
Her smile didn’t waver. “Even Romulans may have a ‘change of heart,’ Captain. Please brief me in person after my fleet establishes orbit. Donatra out.”
Riker closed the channel, then grinned at Jaza and Akaar. “What do you suppose they’ll say if I ask them to let me blow up their ships?”
Chapter Fifteen
U.S.S. TITAN,STARDATE 57037.0
In the eyes of Harn, the alien captain was nearly beside himself with both urgency and anger. But he’s maintaining control admirably,the Neyel Hegemony Navy subaltern and helmrunner thought.
“Why should we cooperate with our jailers in any way?” Harn said to the leader of his captors, the man who identified himself as Captain William Riker.
It was the first time since the traitor Frane had had Harn and his subordinates brought aboard the alien ship that he had deigned to answer any of the alien captain’s direct questions. Though Harn had consented to speak with his diplomatic representative—a surprisingly attractive, if soft, female—despite his men’s whispers about her preternatural ability to see directly into the Neyel soul….
Standing at the threshold of the surprisingly comfortable cell Harn had been issued, Captain Riker nodded to the pair of armed underlings who flanked him. They immediately withdrew and vanished from sight.
The one called Riker stepped into the room, alone, apparently unarmed, and showed no reticence whatsoever. Harn, who stood at least a full head taller than the alien and was considerably broader in the shoulders, was impressed by his captor’s fearlessness.
“Because you are the ranking Neyel military officer on board,” the alien commander said, suddenly looking both unhappy and unfriendly. “And we’re not your ‘jailers.’ In fact, I’ll be happy to set you and your troops down on Oghen right now—if you’re really serious about wanting to face your planet’s death unassisted.”
Suspicious, Harn glared at Riker. “You say you want us to assist in your efforts to rescue my people,” he said, pitching his voice low to make clear that he wasn’t one to be trifled with. “Yet you have only a single, not-overly-large ship.”
“That’s not quite true. But we’d want to rescue as many of your people as our single, not-overly-large ship can accommodate, regardless,” Riker said, scowling deeply. “And as many of the natives as possible.”
“The alienborn kaffirs?”
Riker’s restrained anger finally appeared to get the better of him. Moving so quickly that there was no time to react, the alien grasped Harn by the uniform lapels and spun him face-first into the nearest bulkhead. The impact nearly knocked the wind from him.
Harn regained his feet, his tail switching dangerously behind him as he turned to face Riker and prepared to grab him. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to tear him limb from limb.
But the alien captain stood his ground, either brave or foolish, his hands raised in some sort of martial-skills posture. Harn had no idea whether or not this Riker was a competent fighter; but it was beyond doubt that the alien captain was becoming enraged by Harn’s responses to his overtures.
“I assume you’re referring to the people whose ancestors lived on Oghen before the Neyel colonized it,” Riker said.
Harn shrugged. “Call them what you will.” Why did this creature care so much for those who were so clearly unimportant? It was no wonder that the late Drech’tor Gherran’s wayward son had gravitated toward these soft-skinned weaklings.
“We’re going to put as many people as we possibly can aboard Vanguard. The asteroid colony that orbits your Coreworld.”
Harn’s leathery brows rose involuntarily, and his tail tensed behind him. “Holy Vangar?” So this soft creature really did intend to bring far more to bear against this crisis than his lone vessel.
Riker nodded, though it was clear he was still angry. “Once Vanguard is filled with as many people as we can save, our rescue fleet will tow it someplace safe. We’ll do our best to maintain order among the refugees inside the asteroid, Harn—with or without your arrogant presence. But we need the help of as many local people as possible if we’re to succeed in saving anybody.Preferably people who’ve already been trained to deal with emergencies.
“We need you and your people, Mr. Harn.”
Harn’s desire to strike at the alien suddenly evaporated. He was speechless. He turned, crossed to the room’s inadequately long bed and sat.
After gathering his thoughts, Harn looked up at Riker, who was obviously impatient to get his planned rescue under way. “You have a dedicated diplomatic officer on board,” he said at length. “Why hasn’t she approached the Coreworld’s government with this request?”
Riker shook his head. “Your civil authorities have collapsed. Everyone is fleeing the catastrophe, even your military. Apparently it’s every Neyel for himself.”