A Time for War, a Time for Peace - Keith R. A. DeCandido [88]
“Again,” Troi added through clenched teeth.
Squeezing his fiancée’s hand, Riker said, “It’s no excuse, sir, I’m sorry.”
Picard held up a hand. “It’s quite all right, Will. Under other circumstances, I might be less lenient, but I think almost everyone in this room is aware of what a force of nature the counselor’s mother is. Suffice it to say, the Klingons’ spiritual leader was replaced an indeterminate time ago by a hologram using technology that, as far as we know, is only available in the Federation.” He turned to his second officer. “Mr. Data?”
Data proceeded to give an overview of the history of the mobile emitter, a piece of futuristic technology that Voyager had acquired during its first of several encounters with a twenty-ninth-century Federation captain named Braxton. According to Starfleet records, the U.S.S. Excalibur also encountered Braxton, some five years earlier in Sector 221-G. The android concluded: “It is unknown how this technology made its way to Klingon space.”
Picard nodded. “Thank you, Data. Our job is to try to deduce where Kahless might be.”
Riker asked, “Has anybody made any kind of ransom demand, or claimed to have taken him?”
Shaking her head, Vale said, “No, which makes it pretty damn hard to narrow the search parameters.”
“We have to at least consider the possibility,” Troi said, “that the emperor is dead.”
“It could even be natural,” Crusher said. “When I examined Kahless ten years ago, he didn’t have any of the markers of the standard cloning techniques—but there are plenty of techniques that don’t leave any kind of trace behind.”
Picard frowned. “What are you getting at, Doctor?”
Crusher shrugged. “It’s quite possible that the clone the Klingons made doesn’t have much of a shelf life. And before you ask, I’ve already put in a request to have the records of the cloning sent over, but the High Council claims not to have them.” Her tone dubious, she added, “The records were supposedly destroyed during an attack on Boreth four years ago.”
La Forge shot Crusher a look. “They didn’t keep backups?”
Another shrug. “If they did, they’re not telling us about it. And all the people involved in Kahless’s creation are dead.” She snorted. “Do you know there’s a song about the arrival of Kahless at Boreth? Of all the people besides Kahless named in that song, the only ones still alive are me and Worf.”
Vale’s eyes went wide. “You’re part of a Klingon song? How’d you manage that?”
“I did the genetic test Gowron requested to prove that he was truly Kahless.”
Shaking her head, Vale said, “It’s amazing the things you find out. Four years I’ve been on this ship, and it’s only in the last month that I find out that you dance and you got put in a Klingon song.”
Crusher smiled. “I’m a woman of many talents, Christine.”
“Bringing this back to the original topic,” Picard said, folding his hands in front of himself, “it would seem that we have to assume Kahless is still alive. And speed is of the essence. Some ships that were en route to Tezwa to aid in their resupply were harassed by a pair of birds-of-prey. It’s the third case of Klingon ships taking an aggressive posture with Starfleet vessels, complete with accusations of the Federation kidnapping their emperor. In one of those cases, another Klingon ship came to the Starfleet vessel’s aid, but that does not change the fact that some Klingon captains are taking it upon themselves to retaliate.”
Data then spoke up. “Sir, we are proceeding on the assumption that Kahless was replaced against his will, are we not?”
“Of course, Data. How else would we proceed?”
“In addition to perusing the files sent by Starfleet Command, I have also read everything in Starfleet’s records and in the Klingon Information Net regarding Emperor Kahless in the time since Ambassador Worf discovered him on Boreth nine years, eleven months, twelve days ago. Those files have led me to a hypothesis.”
Giving his second officer a small smile, Picard said, “I don’t doubt it. Proceed, Mr. Data.”
“The attack on Boreth that