Maker - Michael Jan Friedman [12]
Some of those first Magnians had powers of their own, but not of the magnitude exhibited by Mitchell or their fellow crewman, because their extrasensory abilities weren’t as strong. The same was true of their descendants.
However, Brakmaktin was like Mitchell, if Dojjaron’s account could be believed. His level of power was significant right from the start, manifesting itself in demonstrations of telepathy, telekinesis, and computer-like manipulations of data.
“It didn’t take long for Brakmaktin to seize control of the scout ship,” Dojjaron continued. “But like any Nuyyad, he couldn’t be content with what he had. He attacked another vessel on this side of the barrier and boarded it, leaving the battle-scored scout ship behind.”
“Fortunately,” said Serenity, “there was a survivor on the scout ship, a female who managed to restore the vessel’s shields and take it back through the barrier.”
“Whereupon she warned us that an aberration was on the loose—just before she perished from her injuries.” Dojjaron nodded approvingly. “She was a warrior.”
“An aberration,” echoed Ben Zoma. “Interesting way to put it.”
“You have to understand,” said Serenity, “the Nuyyad are instinctively repelled by physical anomalies, especially those that grant an individual an advantage over the rest of the pack. So the notion of a Nuyyad superbeing running around on the loose was intolerable to them, even if he was all the way on the other side of the barrier.”
“Brakmaktin is by his nature an affront,” the Nuyyad declared, his wide, peg-toothed mouth twisting savagely, “as well as a challenge. And a threat.”
“I see,” said Picard.
“Normally,” Dojjaron went on, “we would have hunted him down on our own, as is our custom. But according to the reports we have received from our trading partners, your space is filled with a number of political entities, any one of which might have blundered across us and rendered our mission impossible to carry out.”
“Blundered,” said Ben Zoma, smiling tautly. “You do have a way with words, Foremost Elder.”
Picard put a hand on his friend’s forearm and said, “Please go on.”
It was Serenity who took up the thread. “Under the circumstances, the Nuyyad were most familiar with your Federation. But given the nature of your previous contact, they didn’t think you would greet them with open arms.”
“We needed a go-between,” Dojjaron expanded, “someone your Federation would be more inclined to trust.” His spin on the word made clear his disdain.
Refusing to rise to the bait, the captain glanced at Serenity. “Someone like the Magnians, I gather.”
Dojjaron nodded his massive head. “And her in particular. As you know, she was one of the first two Magnians to make contact with your people. It made sense for her to accompany me here and seek out your Stargazer.”
“Because,” said Picard, “I was the only Starfleet captain who really knew her, and would consider helping her.”
“Of course,” said Dojjaron.
“Naturally,” said Serenity, “we were distrustful of the Nuyyad. They had seized our world, subjected us to their tyranny—and forced us to draw a Federation vessel across the barrier so they could get a look at her.”
Dojjaron didn’t object to her choice of words. Rather, he seemed to take pride in them.
“However,” Serenity continued, “we couldn’t see what the Nuyyad had to gain by lying to us. Passage through the barrier? They had already accomplished that without help from Magnia. Contact with the Federation? Maybe—but for what purpose?”
Off the top of his head, the captain couldn’t come up with a motive either.
“On the contrary,” said Serenity, “if they were planning on conquering the Federation, they would have hurt their chances by alerting us to the fact.”
True, thought Picard. After all, he and his crew had risked their lives to help the Magnians; Serenity’s people had every reason to want to return