Dragon's Honor - Kij Johnson [69]
“What is missing?” Picard said sharply.
Worf’s deep baritone came clearly through the comm. “The display of gifts, sir.”
“I heard you clearly, Lieutenant. I simply could not believe what I heard.”
Picard rubbed his right temple. Thanks to modern medical science, headaches were a fairly rare phenomenon, but he thought he felt one coming on. The situation on Pai was growing more complicated by the moment. He had barely signed off with Data, and was in fact standing between the oak cupboard and the bench the Dragon had occupied, when Worf hailed him to reveal the latest disaster. He listened carefully to Worf’s report, then shook his head wearily. Worf had explained to him about the verapnerharmon, but he still found it hard to accept that six Starfleet security officers, not to mention a squad of armored Pai guardsmen, could allow several tons of gifts—including a life-size jade elephant!—to be stolen from under their noses.
Could the G’kkau be involved in this theft, he speculated, or the mysterious assassin? How did this tie in with the treaty, the wedding, and the imminent G’kkau invasion? The assembled gifts would be a tempting target for any thief, he thought. It might well be that the disappearance of the wedding gifts had nothing to do with the rest of the intrigue surrounding the royal wedding, but how could he be sure? “Mr. Worf,” he said, “I want you to investigate this robbery thoroughly. It may have little bearing on our mission here, but we can’t take that chance.”
“Understood, Captain,” Worf said. “Chih-li and I fully intend to apprehend the thief and recover the gifts.”
“Chih-li?” Picard asked. He couldn’t place the name immediately.
“The Minister of Internal Security,” Worf reminded him. “We are conducting the investigation together.”
“Very good, Mr. Worf. Make it so.” He paused, then spoke again. “And, Worf, I apologize if I sounded cross just now. This wedding is proving more stressful than we anticipated.”
“Most human weddings do,” Worf commented, “in my experience.”
Worf signed off, and Picard wandered back toward Troi and the Dragon. Mu, he observed, had interrupted the Dragon’s conversation with Deanna to whisper something into his emperor’s ear. The nervous Chamberlain now looked absolutely stricken; his face was as pale as one of the ivory playing pieces on the h’i board. The Dragon himself seem taken aback by Mu’s news. “What?” he said loudly. “All of the gifts? Even the elephant?”
Picard quickly explained to Troi what had occurred. “My condolences, Excellence,” he said. “I share your surprise—and concern.”
“Stealing the gifts from a wedding, and an Imperial wedding at that!” The Dragon was clearly appalled at the very idea. “I cannot comprehend it. What has become of honor that anyone could even think of such a thing?”
Picard found it odd, and more than a little annoying, that the Dragon should be more distressed by the prospect of a thief among his people than by the certainty of an imminent attack by the G’kkau. He found himself hoping that Worf would uncover a link between the robbery and the G’kkau; maybe that would finally focus the Emperor’s attention on the alien menace. “I am sure,” he said, “that the combined efforts of both of our security forces will quickly locate the thief and the missing gifts.”
“Yes,” Troi added. “Lieutenant Worf can be very resourceful. And persistent.”
“I hope you are right, my dear,” the Dragon said. Raising his goblet, he downed a large quantity of wine. The strong brew appeared to calm him. His smile returned, as well as the gleam in his eyes whenever he looked upon Troi. “It is good that you are here,” the Emperor said to Deanna. “A beautiful woman can be such a comfort in times of trouble.”
Not necessarily, Picard thought. Watching the Dragon watch Deanna was anything but a comfort; instead, he foresaw still more trouble ahead.
“What do you mean the Dragon is not yet dead?” Kakkh hissed angrily at his agent on Pai. “You promised he would