Dragon's Honor - Kij Johnson [59]
“Sir,” Picard began again, “the G’kkau are utterly ruthless. I know you have great—and doubtless well-earned—confidence in your own forces, but the G’kkau have hundreds of warships and you have rather fewer, or so I have been informed.”
“I have forty-five interplanetary ships, and six nebular cruisers,” the Dragon said calmly. “That should be ample.”
“But the odds are overwhelmingly against you,” Picard said.
“So much the better,” the Dragon told him. “It will make for much honor for the victors.”
“And if the victor is not the Dragon Empire?” Picard asked grimly. “We must consider that possibility. Is it worth risking the potential suffering of your women and children in the event of a G’kkau victory?” He regretted having to be so blunt, but perhaps he could use the Dragon’s sense of chivalry to make the old man see reason.
“Of course not,” the Dragon responded. “All the more reason, then, for the Empire to win.” He winked mischievously at Troi. “Your move, Captain. I still hold your Overeducated Fool.”
“So you do,” Picard said, trying hard not to sigh.
“This is the matter-antimatter reaction chamber,” La Forge explained. “In a very real sense, the MARC is the heart of the Enterprise.”
He stood before a large plane of transparent aluminum and pointed at the reaction chamber on the opposite side of the sheet. His guests, he knew, could observe only a complex assembly of carbonitrium and molyferrenite alloys. His VISOR let him see a lot more. Even through the thick, transparent sheet La Forge saw the radiance of the dilithium crystals cradled within the reaction chamber, and he watched the high-frequency EM field around the crystals crackle and vibrate, producing a rainbow of colors beyond the narrow range of ordinary human vision. He looked on, wonderstruck as ever, as a trickle of antihydrogen met its positive counterpart, igniting a transcendent, space-warping fire that seared itself upon the optical sensors in his brain.
“Most impressive,” said the Celestial Mechanic of the Imperial Court.
You have no idea, La Forge thought.
“If we were to join the Federation,” the Celestial Mechanic asked, “would this technology be made available to us?”
The Pai scientists were humanoids of ordinary size and body temperature. So far, their tour of the Enterprise had been placid and uneventful. As public-relations gigs went, La Forge had experienced a lot worse, the groups he had escorted ranging from arrogant Federation ambassadors who thought they knew everything there was to know about warp drives to throngs of hyperactive children on field trips from the ship’s classes and day-care facilities. With any luck, La Forge thought, he could get back to his real work soon.
“That would be up to your leader, the Dragon,” he said. “If he thought it would benefit your empire, it would be shared with you, along with engineers and technicians to train your people.”
“It would unquestionably make nebular travel much easier,” the Astronomical Savant said.
“At its top sustainable speed,” La Forge estimated, “the Enterprise is able to cross the Dragon Nebula in four and a half days.”
“Astounding,” the Celestial Mechanic said. “I certainly hope the Dragon bears that in mind.”
“Feel free to mention it to him,” La Forge said. “Now, would you like a sneak preview of something I have planned for tomorrow?”
The two Pai scientists looked at each other for a second. “For the wedding?” the Astronomical Savant asked.
“Yes. We are to mount a light show for the festivities. It’s scheduled for right after the ceremony, but as you two are fellow scientists, I thought you might appreciate the technical details. Also”—La Forge grinned—”I’m quite proud of what we whipped up, and I would love to show it off to