Star Trek - NF - 12 - Being Human Read online

  He sighed heavily. "It has less to do with need, Robin, than it does with proper distribution of resources. Robin, don't you understand? When I'm aboard the Ex-calibur..." He ran his hand across the top of his bald pate, as if trying to stimulate the correct ideas to present themselves. "On the Excalibur, I am surrounded by peo-ple who go about their jobs, do their duties, in order to benefit the galaxy around them, and their vessel, and their fleet. While I... I have been selfish..."

  Robin appeared surprised, as if he'd slapped her across the face. "No... you're being too hard on your-self..."

  "No, I am being honest. The Excalibur began as a means to an end for me. And although I have grown to respect and admire its crew and its mission-although I've never exactly wanned to Zak Kebron," he observed ruefully, "I have never really, truly moved beyond that essential self-interest. I am, at core, a selfish bastard."

  "SiCwan-"

  "If one does not know oneself, Robin, then one

  knows nothing at all." He leaned back in his chair,

  steepling his fingers in a manner that was evocative of

  his father. "I have never, and would never, act in a man-

  ner contrary to the interests of the Excalibur. But my

  priority remains, first and foremost, myself. And when I

  see you, and most everyone else on the vessel, acting so

  unselfishly... caring about how and where you can

  provide aid purely in the interest of helping others... it

  drives home for me my own shortcomings."

  "I think, Si Cwan... that you are being much too hard on yourself."

  He shrugged slightly. "I do appreciate your vote of confidence. I do not necessarily share in the opin-ion... but that is neither here nor there. The point is that the Excalibur has a wider mission of not only altru-ism but also exploration, discovery... things that I have little to no use for. The Danteri, on the other hand, are quite focused. They don't care about seeking out new life and new civilizations... boldly going where no one has gone before. They care about power. So do I. In that sense, our goals are mutual and beneficial to one another. It is..." He paused, figuring the best way to say it."... it is a better fit... than the one that currently exists. On the Excalibur I am, and will continue to be- what is the phrase you use... ?" "A square peg in a round hole," she suggested tone-

  lessly.

  "Yes! Yes, that is it. That is it exactly," he told her. "But on Danter, I will be a square peg in a square hole."

  He stood and spread wide his arms, his eyes glistening with anticipation. "Don't you see, Robin? The majesty of the Thallonian Empire need not be limited to a nos-talgic, hollow re-creation of the past. It can, instead, be the future. My future."

  "By making it your future, you're essentially living in your past," pointed out Robin. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest. She looked extremely defen-sive, which Si Cwan found rather sad. If only she could be made to understand. "Doesn't that bother you at all?"

  "No," he said promptly. "Because I cannot escape my past, Robin. When I walk out of this holodeck, all this will still remain with me, in here," and he tapped his chest. "The impetus to build up the Thallonian Empire, to be great... it is a part of me, embedded within me by generations of those who have proceeded me."

  "You don't need an empire to be great, Si Cwan," said Robin with surprising urgency. "That greatness is also in you, empire or not. And I just don't see how you can not realize that."

  "I realize you believe it, Robin, and I thank you for it. And I will always consider you a great friend because of it. But I know what I have to do... and I strongly sus-pect the Danteri will enable me to do it far more effi-ciently than the Excalibur. It simply comes down to best use of resources, as I said."

  Robin didn't appear to have heard the latter part of what he'd said. Instead she had a fixed smile on her face as she repeated, " 'A great friend.' Well, that's... that's good, Si Cwan. You have no idea how much that means to me."

  "Or to me," said Si Cwan sincerely. "But the bottom line is... there really isn't anything to keep me on the Excalibur. With Kalinda found, and the Danteri offering me the opportunity to take greater steps than ever to reestablish the Thallonian Empire... name me one rea-son, just one, to remain with the Excalibur."

  She smiled wanly, although she didn't look especially happy. "Well, you've got me there, Cwan. If you can't think of one damned thing, then I don't think I can, either."

  He stepped down from the chair, walking over to Robin, and he rested his hands on either shoulder. She looked up at him, unflinching. "Look, Robin... I haven't completely made up my mind yet. But I just felt that, out of deference to our long relationship, and the many times you've helped me in the past, that I owed it to you to tell you exactly what my current frame of mind is. Don't you think we owe total honesty to one another."

  Something seemed to click into place behind her eyes. She suddenly seemed to be standing a little straighter, and her voice was a bit more confident. "Yes. Yes, we do. And I... should be honest with you. As honest as you've been with me, correct?"

  "Absolutely. I'm glad we had this talk, Robin. But now, if you'll excuse me..."

  "What?" She looked puzzled. "But-"

  "End program," he said, and the long-gone palace of Thallon shimmered out of existence. He turned back to her. "I'm sorry... I did not mean to come across as rude. Was there something else you wanted to say?"

  "Well... yes, I didn't think that the discussion was over, but if you're in a hurry..."

  "I'm afraid I am," he said. "You see, I promised XO Mueller that we would spend some... personal time to-gether."

  "Oh." She sounded very quiet.

  "Yes, she's... a rather intriguing woman. I never in-teracted with her much back on the Excalibur, but here..."

  "Well, by all means," Robin said, "I wouldn't want to keep you from that. It sounds very... stimulating... intellectually."

  "I think it might be." He hesitated. There seemed to be something else that should be said here, but he wasn't entirely certain what that might be. "Do you... wish to come along? To join our... discussions?"

  "Oh, no, no. No, no, no," she said with a laugh that was just ever so slightly tinged with bitterness. "No, I don't think that will be necessary. I don't think I'd ex-actly fit in... in all honesty. That is what we're trying to be, right? Honest with each other?"

  "Well... yes." He looked at her askance. "Robin... is there anything else you wanted to say... ?"

  "No, not at all," she said, heading quickly for the door. "Go. Have fun with Mueller. I'm sure it'll be very entertaining for both of you. As for me, there's only so much honesty I can take in one day." And she was out the door before he could stop her.

  EXCALIBUR

  i.

  calhoun could not recall a time when the atmosphere in the conference lounge was so uneasy. There had been any number of times that they'd been dealing with poten-tially hostile beings with whom they had been forced by circumstances to work with peacefully. Calhoun had faced individuals whom he had wanted to kill, or who had wanted to kill him, or both. He had sat across the table from people who possessed weaponry or vessels that were capable of blowing the Excalibur to scrap metal.

  In all those instances, however, he had been backed up by a crew with a united purpose: to pull together and get the job done. Even when he and Shelby had been at their most fractious, he had always known she would ul-timately be there for him. And even when there were oc-casions that she one hundred percent disagreed with him, when they were in front of the crew, she had al-ways been consistently supportive... most of the time.

  But the situation with which he was faced now was unique in his experience.

  He was seated in his customary spot at the far end of the table, and at the opposite end was a being of such phe-nomenal power that she had been able to stop the ship dead in space. Yet she was attired in a manner more ap-propriate for more than a millennia ago. Not only that, but she was le
aning on the arm of Mark McHenry. She had in-sisted he pull his chair over and sit right next to her, and she had then looped her arm around his in a manner that could only be described as possessive. She rested her head on his shoulder, looking charmingly girlish in a way, if she hadn't been capable of crushing the ship with a thought.

  Soleta, Kebron, Burgoyne, and Selar were also pres-ent. The two Vulcans were making absolutely no attempt to hide their priorities: Soleta was taking scientific en-ergy readings off her, while Selar was studying the read-outs from a medical tricorder. The woman calling herself Artemis didn't seem to notice... or, if she did, she cer-tainly didn't appear to care. She just sat there with a small smirk, as if to say that no matter what anyone else said or did, she was secure and content in her power over the situation.

  Kebron sat there, rock steady... although Calhoun was concerned that Kebron had been hurt. There ap-peared to be flakes of skin falling away from around his throat (or lack of throat, as the case may be). That concerned Calhoun, since Kebron's hide had always seemed more or less unpenetrable. Although Kebron had been hammered by Artemis' attack, it didn't seem so catastrophic that he would have been badly injured.

  Still, the skin irritation didn't appear infected (whatever a Brikar infection might look like). And the skin beneath was the same color as Kebron's original hue. So maybe it wasn't so bad. What was more disturbing, though, was the way that Kebron was looking at McHenry. He wasn't just watching him carefully; he was glowering at him. One of Kebron's greatest strengths had always been his relative unflappability. He'd been a virtual en-gine of destruction when the situation had called for it, but he never allowed his passions to color his actions. For whatever reason, he was taking this McHenry situa-tion personally. That could prove dangerous, and he re-alized he might have to take Kebron aside and speak to him privately.

  Burgoyne seemed rather focused on McHenry as well, appearing sympathetic to his obvious discomfort. Immediately Calhoun realized why: Burgoyne and McHenry had been involved at one point. Although Bur-goyne was most definitely, and happily, with Dr. Selar now, nevertheless there still might have been some old feelings left rattling about in Burgoyne's mind.

  "We need to get several things sorted out," Calhoun said slowly, "before we go any further. First: The assault on my bridge crew..."

  "You assaulted Marcus," she replied.

  There were blank looks.

  "That would be me," sighed McHenry.

  " 'Marcus?' "

  "Don't start, Burgy."

  Artemis ruffled her fingers through McHenry's hair. He flinched away slightly at it. "Now, of course,

  naughty Marcus was actually trying to get away from me. Trying to take this vessel and send it in the other di-rection. Naturally I didn't approve of his actions. But on the other hand, I disliked the way you were treating him... and so I stepped in." Then she looked at them, glowering, and for a moment Calhoun felt as if storm energies were gathering in the room. But just as quickly, they passed, and she simply concluded mildly, "I do not suggest," and she fired a very specific, and warning, look to Kebron, "that you try such things again."

  Kebron said nothing.

  "Second," Calhoun resumed speaking, "you have re-leased my ship?"

  "Of course we have, Captain," said Artemis. Her voice was deep and throaty, and also maddeningly attractive. She spoke with an airy confidence, and worse, she spoke like someone who had the power to back up that confi-dence. "We have no reason to continue to hold it. After all, if we are so inclined, we can recapture it at any time."

  "We?" Burgoyne asked, which was exactly what was going through Calhoun's mind.

  "Yes. 'We.'" She smiled ingratiatingly. "Certainly you did not think I came alone."

  Soleta lowered her tricorder and, placing it on the table, interlaced her fingers. 'It might not seem an un-reasonable surmise," she said. "After all... your twin brother contended that he was alone."

  Artemis was appreciatively startled by Soleta's re-mark. She released her hold on McHenry's arm and placed her full attention on Soleta. "You know of him? You know of Apollo?"

  "It was not a difficult incident to research," Soleta said, eyebrow raised. Across from her, Selar was still studying her medical tricorder. Every so often she shook her head slightly as if she could not give credence to what she was seeing. "When one asks the computer to check all incidents of Federation vessels coming into contact with Greek gods, there is-believe it or not-a very short list. To be specific: There was exactly one in-stance, logged by Captain-"

  "Kirk," Calhoun said immediately. "James T. Kirk."

  All eyes turned to him. "That's right, Captain," said Soleta. "You also researched-?"

  "No. But I remember Jellico mentioning the incident some time ago. It was his opinion," Calhoun said lev-elly, "that Kirk's log entries regarding his encounters with Apollo were... dubious. How like Kirk to wait the better part of a century in order to have the last laugh."

  "Kirk would have been a safe bet in any event," said Burgoyne. "Did you ever read his entries in comparison to other vessels? I did. On any given stardate you would have Captain Smith saying, 'Mapped a new star today,' and Captain Jones writing, 'Brought an ambassador to negotiate a peace treaty,' and Captain Kirk would be saying, 'Fought a giant amoeba that was going to eat a star system.' It was insane."

  "Thank you for the history lesson," Selar said sharply, lowering her tricorder long enough to glance at her mate.

  "The point is," Calhoun said, "yes, we do know of your brother, thanks to the encounter on-"

  "Stardate 3468.1," spoke up Soleta. "And on that oc-casion, Apollo stated that he was the last of a race of

  beings who had come to Earth millennia ago and put themselves across as gods to the inhabitants of the time. He endeavored to force the crew of the Enter-prise to worship him in a manner similar to their ances-tors."

  "I assume the request did not go over well," Burgoyne said.

  "You assume correctly," said Soleta.

  "It was... a tragic situation," Artemis spoke up. A slight bit of her high-handedness seemed to be gone as she spoke of that long-ago encounter. "My brother... of all of us, he was the most worshipped. Even more so than Zeus. He was the god of the sun, the god of the prognostication. Humans were devoted to him. All he desired from those... those ingrates on the Enterprise, was that they attend him in the way that their ancestors had. If he had come to you-if he had requested that you bend knee to him in the manner that your ancestors had-what would you have said?"

  "They weren't my ancestors," said Calhoun immedi-ately.

  "Not mine," "Nor mine," Soleta and Selar told her. This was promptly followed by "Count me out," from Burgoyne, and a grunt acknowledging the obvious from Kebron.

  "My my." Artemis seemed amused by the revelation. "Perhaps they're making humans of less sturdy stuff nowadays."

  Soleta did not appear the least bit amused. "Accord-ing to log entries, Apollo claimed that he was the last of his kind. That the rest of you had 'spread yourselves

  upon the winds' and were carried away. Was he de-luded? Lying? Or are you lying?"

  Artemis fixed a glare upon Soleta, even though the edges of her mouth were upturned in what could barely be called a smile. Calhoun made a mental note that problems between this "Artemis" and Soleta could likely be consid-erable. "You," Artemis said to Soleta, "remind me some-what of Pan. But Pan was a bore. I never liked him much."

  "Your opinion," Soleta replied, "might be of concern to me if my job were to provide you with entertainment"

  "The day is young," said Artemis, the non-smile widening. "You may yet provide some."

  "All right, that's enough," Calhoun said with suffi-cient sharpness to snap Artemis' attention over to nun. She looked him up and down, obviously trying to size him up, get a feeling for the type of man he was. Cal-houn was not especially interested in giving her the time to do so. He was already viewing her as a potential op-ponent, and as such he considered it necessary to keep her off ba
lance as much as he possibly could. He didn't have much choice in the matter, he was still sensing the fractured relationship between his own crew, and he cer-tainly did not need to have things aggravated. "I will not have my people threatened, Artemis."

  "Nor was I threatening them," she said mildly.

  "Then I would be most obliged if you would answer Lieutenant Soleta's question."

  Artemis nodded slowly. She now wasn't sitting next to McHenry at all. It was almost as if she'd forgotten that he was there. "Very well," she said, even more softly, less officiously than before. "You see, one of my

  provinces is truth above all... and in the spirit of that, I suppose I owe you the truth.