Maker - Michael Jan Friedman [14]
“You’re fighters,” Ben Zoma observed.
“Fighters, yes,” said the foremost elder. “Stubborn ones. But we are also highly procreative in comparison to other species, giving birth to large numbers of offspring as frequently as every sixty-eight solar days.”
“And their days are shorter than those on Magnia,” Serenity contributed. “Or, for that matter, those on Earth. On the average, a Nuyyad female of prime childbearing age produces twenty-four live offspring in a Federation standard year.”
Picard glanced at his first officer, who was equally impressed. It was easy to see why the Nuyyad had become conquerors—initially on their own world, and later on more fertile ones. They were driven by an intense biological imperative that required them to find more and more space for their progeny.
“Like any Nuyyad warrior,” said Dojjaron, “Brakmaktin’s primary concern will be to create a safe environment for the offspring of his clan.”
“But his clan is back on the other side of the barrier,” the captain pointed out. “And there are no Nuyyad females at hand to start a new one.”
“He will not need females,” Dojjaron told him. “In their absence, Nuyyad males can produce offspring on their own.”
“You mean they can clone themselves?” the captain asked.
“In essence,” said Dojjaron, “yes.”
Asexual reproduction was a fairly common ability among simple animals. However, it was a most uncommon one among the galaxy’s more complex species.
Nor was it good news. The effects of the barrier on an exposed individual could be passed on from generation to generation, as the Magnians had amply demonstrated.
However, none of Magnia’s founders had been transformed as radically as Gary Mitchell, so their powers had been more modest. And the presence of un transformed individuals had gradually watered down the gene pool.
But there wouldn’t be any untransformed females to water down Brakmaktin’s genes. His progeny could all grow up to become as obscenely powerful as their parent.
“And you think that is what Brakmaktin will do?” Picard asked. “Create offspring?”
“Without question,” said Dojjaron. “Given the magnitude of his power and his isolation from other Nuyyad, the impulse to multiply will be irresistible. It will take place quickly and it will take place often.”
It was a grim thought.
“Twenty-four the first year,” Ben Zoma thought out loud. “And twenty-four more the second, and the third…”
“And every year thereafter,” said Serenity, “for as long as Brakmaktin is capable of bearing them.”
Dojjaron made a face. “And eventually, his offspring will begin to bear offspring of their own.”
The captain tried to imagine a galaxy full of super-powerful Nuyyad. It wouldn’t possess the slightest resemblance to the one he knew.
“How can we stop him?” he asked.
“There is a way,” Dojjaron said. “After Brakmaktin creates a suitable environment for his young, and his body begins to change so he can reproduce, he will enter a period of dormancy. Like any Nuyyad, he will be vulnerable at this time.”
“That,” said Serenity, “is when we must strike.”
“Assuming we’ve gotten within striking distance,” Ben Zoma noted.
She nodded.
Picard saw now why the Magnians hadn’t gone directly to the Federation. The last time Serenity crossed the barrier, she and Guard Daniels had been detained for weeks while Starfleet Command decided what to do with them.
And this time she had a Nuyyad foremost elder at her side. It might have been months before Picard’s superiors reached any kind of decision regarding them. If Brakmaktin was half as dangerous as Serenity and Dojjaron contended, they needed to move a bit more quickly than that.
“You see what we’re up against?” she asked.
Picard nodded. “I do.”
“Then you’ll help?”
The captain considered what he had heard. He couldn’t implicitly trust Serenity—not after she had deceived him the