Kahless - Michael Jan Friedman [26]
“I see,” said the first officer.
“Mister Worf received the content of the scroll via subspace communique recently. He’s agreed to make it available to you and the other senior officers, in case it becomes necessary to familiarize yourselves with it. I recommend you take a glance at it-just in case.”
Riker smiled uncertainly. “In case what?”
The captain sighed. “I don’t know that either, I’m afraid. If I were you, I would be ready for anything.”
The first officer grunted thoughtfully. “If you say so, sir.”
“I do. Dismissed, Number One.”
But Riker didn’t leave. He just sat there, trying to decide how best to phrase what he wanted to say.
Picard’s brow wrinkled. “Was there something else, Will?”
“Yes, sir. I don’t suppose you’ve forgotten why you comchose me to be the first officer of the Enterprise?”
The captain considered the question for a moment.
“Because of that incident on Altair Three, you mean. The one where you forbade your captain to go on an away mission on the grounds it was too dangerous. When I read about it in your file, it showed me what you were made of-that you had the guts to stand up for what you believed in.”
“That’s right,” Riker confirmed. “You might say a bell went off in my brain back on Altair Three. A warning bell.”
Picard smiled. “Any reason that incident should come to mind right now?”
The first officer nodded. “That bell is going off again.
You’re responding to the request of someone who tried to deceive you once before.”
It was hard to argue with that. Koroth and his clerics had tried to convince not only the captain, but the entire quadrant, that Kahless the clone was in fact Kahless the Unforgettable. And they had nearly gotten away with it.
“Even if you think you can trust him,” Riker went on, “you’re headed for the Klingon Empire-hardly the safest venue in the quadrant. And on top of it, you don’t know what you’ll find when you get there.”
Picard met his gaze. “All true, Number One. And if the situation were different, I would feel compelled to consider your argument. However, Kahless specifically asked for me to meet with him. Also, I have visited the homeworld before. I will hardly be a babe in the woods there.”
“And if it turns out to be a trap?” Riker suggested.
The captain’s mouth became a thin, hard line. “Then I shall no doubt wish I had listened to you. But my instincts tell me it’s not a trap, W. And there is a Klingon expression …”
The first officer saw where Picard was going with his remark. “DujII-JUST yivog, was he declared.
“Trust your instincts,” Picard translated. “Exactly.”
Riker thought for a moment. “All right,” he agreed at last. “We’ll both trust your instincts, sir.”
Alexander was doing his quantum mechanics homework-or trying to-when he heard the whisper of an opening door and saw his father walk in. Right away, the boy knew that something was up. After all, Lieutenant Worf didn’t normally visit in the middle of his shift.
Then, just in case Alexander had any doubts, he saw the expression on his father’s face. It was an expression he’d seen before, a funny mixture of reluctance and determination.
The reluctance part had to do with his having a son on board-someone he had to raise and protect-and that meant not exposing himself to danger any more than he had to. He hadn’t shared any of that with the boy, but Alexander had figured it out all the same.
As for the determination … the boy wasn’t quite sure about that. But he could guess.
Sighing, Alexander leaned back from his computer terminal. “You’re going on a mission, aren’t you?”
His father looked at him. “Yes,” he admitted. “And there is a chance I will be gone for some time.”
The boy nodded. “Can I ask where you’re going? Or has the captain asked you not to say anything?”
Worf scowled. “In fact, he has. But I can tell you this much-it involves the Empire.”
“You’re going to the homeworld?”
His father shrugged. “Possibly.”
“In secret?” Alexander pressed.
“in secret,” his father confirmed.
“How will you get there?”
“More than