Death in Winter - Michael Jan Friedman [21]
And Kevratas isn’t just a single planet, Picard noted. It was the homeworld of the entire Kevratan species, which had established itself on a dozen previously unoccupied planets before the Romulans conquered them all and took control.
The other Kevratan worlds took their cue from Kevratas. If the Federation could gain Kevratas’s trust, the effect would spread among the outworlds like wildfire.
“You understand the implications,” said Edrich, “I’m sure. The praetor may have sent out feelers, extending the promise of improved relations. But this is a bird in the hand-a chance to take the Empire down a peg and liberate the outworlds at the same time. It’s of the utmost importance that we jump on this while the opportunity presents itself. If it weren’t, we would never have sent the head of Starfleet Medical.”
“Why,” Picard asked, “are you so quick to assume that Doctor Crusher is dead?”
The admiral looked apologetic. “We haven’t heard from her or the Kevrata who were supposed to help her for three days now. Seldom do operatives remain missing that long and turn up alive. You know that as well as I do.”
Seldom, the captain echoed stubbornly in the privacy of his mind, but not never. There was still a chance, no matter how slim, that Beverly had survived.
“I wish I could be more sanguine,” said Edrich. “Unfortunately, those are the facts.”
Picard shook his head. “No.”
The admiral regarded him, his eyes full of sympathy. “I know how hard this must be for you.”
That wasn’t what the captain meant. He wasn’t in denial of the facts. He was in command of them. “Beverly Crusher is alive. I am certain of it.”
Edrich straightened in his chair. Clearly, it wasn’t the response he had expected.
“And,” Picard continued, “I will do whatever it takes to extract her from the trouble she appears to have encountered.”
The older man hesitated for a moment before responding. “I had a mission in mind for you, all right. However, it doesn’t involve a rescue operation.”
The captain eyed him. “What then?”
“Doctor Crusher’s mission was exceptionally important, and we’re still determined to pursue it. Obviously, she was our first choice with regard to stopping the epidemic, our best chance at success-but there is another option.”
And he told Picard who it was.
In one way, it was the logical conclusion, no question. In another, it was anything but that.
“We want you,” said Edrich, “to get this doctor to Kevratas and put him a position to find a cure. Then we want you to see to the distribution of it.” He scowled. “In retrospect, we should probably have gotten you involved from the get-go. No one knows the Romulans better than you do.”
It was true. Picard had been the first to make contact with the Romulans when they came out of their fifty-three-year period of isolation. He was the one who had gone to Romulus to look for Ambassador Spock. And more recently, he was the one who had dealt with Shinzon.
“Also,” Edrich continued, “no one knew- ” He stopped himself. “- knows Doctor Crusher better than you do. Having worked alongside her all these years, you’re in the best position to steer clear of whatever went wrong for her.”
The admiral’s features softened. “And after you’ve helped the Kevrata, if you want to push your luck and stay to look for her, you’ll be in the best position to do that as well.”
Picard didn’t like the idea of allowing Beverly to languish in what might be desperate circumstances while he pursued another objective. He wanted desperately to extricate her from whatever snare had taken her.
But she would have been the first to remind him that the welfare of the Kevrata came first-before hers, before his, before that of any single individual, no matter how important or beloved. That was where his duty lay.
“Unfortunately,” said Picard, “the Enterprise is in no condition to take me to the