Intellivore - Diane Duane [51]
That was true enough. “Meanwhile,” Picard said, “the worst case. What do we know about this creature that will give us a way to attack it?”
There was a little silence. “It’s a planet,” Geordi said, a little reluctantly. “Planets have been blown up before.”
“With planet-cracker bombs, yes,” said Captain Maisel, rather dryly. “You have any on hand? They’re not exactly Starfleet issue.”
Geordi shook his head. “We don’t usually carry such things, Captain … and I wouldn’t care to be working in a Starfleet where we did. But, as usual with weapons of mass destruction as opposed to more useful and beneficial devices, they’re not that hard to build.”
Maisel blinked. “You have the materials?”
“We’ve got plenty of antimatter,” Geordi said.
“Fine,” said Picard, though he would normally not have described as “fine” any conversation in which he was discussing the purposeful destruction of a planet. “Still, as you say, if we’re going to destroy this planet, we must know where to put the device. We’ll need a much better scan of the planet’s structure.”
“Now, then,” said Ileen.
“Please hold that thought, Captain,” said Picard, desperately hoping that she would lose it. “We still have to consider the possibility of other weaknesses. Is there anything else we should take into consideration?”
Ileen finally cut through the long silence that followed. “We’ve got this cat,” she said softly, “and this bell—”
Picard waited almost impatiently for her to volunteer. She just looked at him. “Captain Picard,” she said, “I’m not suicidal, and this would be suicide. At least in terms of this death.” She tapped her head. “This is the kind of situation where you call for volunteers, yes. But Starfleet has strong feelings about the captains of starships doing such things themselves.”
“Yes,” Picard said, “so it does.” He gazed down at his folded hands, not quite willing to look at any of the people gathered around the table.
“We are, I suppose,” said Ileen’s executive officer, Commander McGrady, “talking about two shuttlecraft equipped with, or towing, the necessary shield generators, and another carrying the bomb—”
Data shook his head. “I do not think that is likely to be effective, Commander. In particular, the power level needed to drive the shields will need a starship.”
“It would seem,” Picard said, “we may be faced with the necessity of sacrificing one starship, or losing two as the price of a failed attempt.”
“We have a spare,” Ileen said very reluctantly.
Picard sighed. The crew complement of Oraidhe were in the process of being split between Enterprise’s and Marignano’s facilities, and the medical staff were complaining even more bitterly of the overload than they had been earlier. It was understandable, since their problem was now multiplied by approximately six. “We do,” Picard said, “but, Captain, the intellivore knows it’s already dealt with the crew of Oraidhe. I don’t think it would hold still if that ship approached it again. I think it would leave quickly. Wouldn’t you, in its position?”
“I don’t want to think about its position … though I suppose you have a point.”
“No,” Picard said. “It’s going to be your ship or mine.”
“Toss you for it,” said Captain Maisel. “Let’s go down to the gym.”
Picard gave her a very dry look. “I think I would have to win that toss, regardless of other considerations. We can just handle your crew complement aboard Enterprise as well; you wouldn’t have the room.”
“Captain,” said Dr. Crusher from down the table, “before you go too far into this aspect of the planning, it’s possible I have some new information that may be of use to you.”
Everyone looked at her. Picard nodded. “Doctor?”
“Well, as you say, we’ve been in the process of moving Oraidhe’s crew and caring for them. We’ve been moving, among other things, some pets. There were some dogs and cats, and a couple of Trill feather-apes, and various livestock—all of it unfortunately in the same condition as their owners. Obviously, the ship’s vet has put them down. But there was one exception. One of the command crew had a tank of Dyan fin-crabs,