Maker - Michael Jan Friedman [30]
“Aye, sir,” Pierzynski said, and bent to his task.
In the meantime, Picard contacted Ben Zoma and described the situation. “I would like to speak with Dojjaron,” he added, speaking into the communicator grid that was part of his helmet. “Perhaps he can tell me about those shafts out in the corridor.”
“Acknowledged,” said the first officer. “I’ll have Cadwallader patch you through.”
A few moments later, Picard heard the jangling voice of the foremost elder. “What is it?”
The captain told him about the mineral deposits. “Any idea what they might be?”
Dojjaron made a sound deep in his throat. “Brakmaktin is re-creating the safe-cavern of his clan. He’ll need it if he’s to produce young ones.”
Picard absorbed the information. “Our sensors tell us he is no longer on this vessel. Having created such an environment, would he leave it behind?”
“Of course—because he can’t complete his labors in the confines of a ship. There is more to creating a safe-cavern than fabricating a few mineral columns. He needs more space in which to work—and he won’t stop until he finds it.”
“Then why create the mineral deposits at all?” the captain asked. “Was he merely exploring the extent of his abilities?”
“That,” said Dojjaron, “is a question for Brakmaktin.”
Picard understood. Until then, no Nuyyad had ever had the option of manufacturing his own safe-cavern. It was difficult for even Dojjaron to explain Brakmaktin’s behavior.
“Thank you,” said Picard, and terminated the link. Then he contacted Joseph and asked for a progress report.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, sir,” said the security officer. “The engine room’s been transformed into a cave. Not just made to look like one—I mean actually turned into one. And the warp reactor…you can barely see it, it’s so caked over.”
The captain sympathized with Joseph’s reaction. “We encountered the same sort of environment in the vicinity of the bridge. Continue your investigation, Lieutenant—and if you come across even the slightest indication that Brakmaktin is aboard, let me know immediately.”
“I will, sir,” Joseph promised.
Picard knew his acting security chief would exercise the utmost care. But he knew also that if Brakmaktin wanted to remain undetected, he could probably do so.
After all, he was powerful enough to turn an engine room into a cave. What would stop him from getting into an adversary’s head and creating a convenient illusion?
The captain looked around the bridge. It appeared empty but for Pierzynski and himself. Yet Brakmaktin could have been standing right next to him, watching him, biding his time…
The thought made the hairs on the back of the captain’s neck stand up. Placing his back against a bulkhead, he put his hand on his phaser and waited for Pierzynski to finish his work.
One thing was certain: Santana had been telling the truth about Brakmaktin and his superior abilities. What had happened on the Iktoj’ni was ample proof of it.
Nikolas hadn’t intended to relocate the bodies of the Ubarrak as he had relocated his crewmates on the Iktoj’ni. The Ubarrak weren’t dead, so it didn’t seem right to lay them side by side in a cargo hold. But the more he saw of them, the harder it was to leave them where they were.
Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer. Hefting an Ubarrak onto his shoulder, Nikolas lugged him into a lift and brought him down to a mess hall he had discovered in his travels.
By the time he came back for a second one, winded and perspiring because Ubarrak were so much heavier than humans, Brakmaktin had made himself comfortable on the bridge. He was sitting in the center seat, surrounded by an entourage of half-formed mineral pillars, and staring at the viewscreen.
All it showed were the stars streaming past. However, Nikolas allowed for the possibility that Brakmaktin saw more in what was on the screen than he did. Or maybe the alien didn’t see anything at all—it was hard to say.
And Brakmaktin wasn’t exactly a font of information. In fact, he was no more talkative than the Ubarrak whose intellects he had so casually