Day of Honor 01_ Ancient Blood - Diane Carey [116]
Tight-lipped, Alexander stepped back a pace or two, so he could face his father without seeming to look up so sharply. His voice was thready, full of effort.
“The Day of Honor is meant to help us understand that our enemy might have honor, right?”
Worf forced his voice up. “Yes …”
“Mrs. Khanty didn’t understand that. She didn’t think her enemy had any honor, but she was the one who didn’t have any. So she underestimated you. I don’t know if what you did was right, but I know honor isn’t simple. Sometimes it means both sides might be partly right, and you’ve got to figure that out before you go killing people.”
The room fell silent. All three men were riveted by the echo of a child’s words. And the same pride.
Alexander’s gaze rose to his father’s face, never flinched, never wavered.
“I still don’t know what honor is,” the boy said, “but I know it’s why you fight, not how you fight.”
Speechless, Worf stared down at his son. Then he looked up at Picard, and his expression changed. Anger still lingered, but there was something more—as if he thought that perhaps Picard did far more than had been expected.
“If it’s all right,” Alexander said, “I have to talk to the captain for a minute.”
Perplexed by his son’s command of the moment, Worf squeezed the tension out of his hands, nodded, and said, “Very well. Captain … thank you.”
Satisfied, Picard nodded back. “My pleasure, Mr. Worf.” Given the price paid, Worf guarded his reaction and left the ready room.
After the door panels closed and Worf was gone, Riker asked, “Do you want me to leave, too, Alexander?”
“No, you don’t have to.” Alexander came forward to the desk and looked at Picard. “I checked on some things.”
“Oh? Things like what?”
“Like whether or not Mr. Nightingale died that night. He did. And the name of the British colonel. And Patrick O’Heyne really did have a business in London and New York. And Mr. Pennington wrote some articles and letters that were published, so the computer was probably using his own words when he was talking to me. A lot of what we saw really did happen.”
“That’s good work,” Picard told him. “Did you also check as to the fates of Jeremiah and Sandy?”
“No … I thought about it, but I decided not to.”
“Why not? You have the rest of the journals, don’t you?”
“My relatives have them. I can get them.”
Picard leaned forward suddenly. “Just a minute—you’re not thinking about using a holoprogram again, are you?”
The boy nodded. “Yes, I want to go back. But … I think I’ll wait until next year’s Day of Honor to see the rest. And if it’s all right with you,” he added, steeling himself, “I think I’ll go with my father next time.”
Behind the boy, Riker’s blue eyes gleamed and he smiled.
“It’s quite all right with me,” Picard said. “A most honorable decision. Dismissed, swab.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Like a proper sailing man, Alexander came to attention, turned on a heel, and strode out of the ready room.
Picard leaned back and grinned at Riker. “Hmm … what do you know about that? Perhaps I wouldn’t do such a bad job of raising a child after all.”
Riker chuckled. “Well, sir, I have to admit—”
The door flashed open again. Wasn’t anybody using the damned door chimes anymore?
“Captain Picard!”
“Ah, Mr. Toledano … good evening.”
“You are going to be the captain of a mule train when the Federation Council gets done with you! You handed Odette Khanty over to the planetary law enforcement!”
“Yes, I did. And she’s been charged with assassinating her husband, along with a long trail of other corruptions. Mr. Data’s recordings are admissible as evidence and—”
“With her present on the planet, the election could still be held! It was held today!”
“And the lieutenant governor won,” Riker supplied. “He’s now planetary governor.”
Toledano rounded on him. “And they also voted to secede from the Federation!” He whirled back to Picard. “We’ve lost the planet because of your damned defiance!”
Picard kept his voice controlled and relaxed. “Think what you will, Commissioner, but I refused to put myself in the position of the British.