Metamorphosis - Jean Lorrah [86]
“Then let’s beam up one of the Konor,” Geordi suggested, “and try talking to him. Or whatever they do. In that situation he’d surely try to communicate with us, and the translator might be able to work out what his method is.” “Mmm,” the captain mused, “that is a possibility. Do you think you could isolate an individual and bring him up safely?” “Not at this distance. We can only enhance the images after we’ve recorded them. We could send someone down into a sparsely populated area to get a lock on someone, and beam them back together.”
“Risky,” Picard noted, “but it may become necessary. Go find Transporter Chief O’Brien and sort out the specifications, but don’t do anything without my order. Number One, consult with Security about precautions should we decide to bring one of the Konor aboard. Data, Thralen, I want you to study everything on all the scans-search for clues to Konor motivations. If we do decide to bring one of them aboard, what will persuade him to cooperate?” “Yes, sir,” Data said as the meeting began to break up and everyone rose to go to his assigned task.
“We will set up in Briefing Room Three.”
“Very good,” the captain said, a hint of weariness in his tone. “If you’ll take something from my years of experience,” he added, “you have the most important task. We’re going to have no success in dealing with the Konor until we can talk to them.
I’ve asked Darryl Adin to act as advisor.
He has direct experience with a wide variety of aggressive species, both in Starfeet and in the private sector. See what suggestions he might have.” Dare brought Aurora and Poet to the briefing. “Our communications and tactics specialists,” he explained. “If you don’t want them here for security reasons, though-was “I think we can use everyone who wants to help,” Data cut in. “Thralen?” 441 .1.
They began with the first scene, the serene Konor occupying the Samdian city just as if they had always lived there. “The serpent underneath the rose, eh?”
Poet said. “You’re sure these are the bloodthirsty Konor we’ve heard so much about?”
“Oh, yes,” Data replied, and called up the scene in Eskatus. “Cold bastards, aren’t they?” Dare observed. “I take it with this evidence there won’t be any problem with the Federation offering aid?” “I don’t think so,” Data answered. “We are trying to avoid fighting.
They’re civilized. There should be some line of reasoning they’ll listen to.” “Except they don’t speak,” Dare observed, “so they probably don’t listen. How do they communicate?”
“Our best guess at the moment is telepathy,” Thralen said. “Telepathy!” Dare exclaimed.
“Telepaths don’t act like that. Unless-Data, I think Sdan should see this. There have been aggressive Vulcans, although I don’t think there’s anything that coldblooded in their history. But he knows how telepaths react, better than any of us.”
The Vulcanoid member of Dare’s gang studied the scenes and said, “It’s possible-but they’d have to be mighty sick. “Suffer the death of thine enemy’ is an ancient Vulcan tradition, even though most Vulcans are only touch-telepaths.
Even that made pre-Reform Vulcans very selective about killing-it had to be worth accepting the other’s pain. But these Konor act as if they don’t feel what they do to the Samdians. They’d have to be so jaded that pain wouldn’t affect them.
Madness.” He shook his head. “I can’t see how they can be so vicious to the Samdians and then so calm with one another.” As the computer enhanced the other scans, they got a larger picture of Konor activity, but not a clearer one. Just as they were about to give up, though, one dramatic scene increased the mystery. It was again a street scene, on the edge of a city captured by the Konor but not yet rebuilt. Two adult Konor, a male and a female, led a group of a dozen or so small children into a plaza with bombed-out buildings on two sides. Like all the Konor they had seen so far, this group did not talk to one another,