Oblivion - Michael Jan Friedman [63]
Suddenly, Guinan felt the sting of her interrogator’s hand striking her face.
Steej leaned even closer. “If I were you, I would reconsider my situation, and the advisability of lying to someone who holds my fate in his hands.”
Just then, one of his officers came to the barrier and gestured. Frowning, the security director gestured back, and the officer deactivated the barrier.
“Luck is with you,” Steej told Guinan. “You’ve been given a respite. But I’ll be back.”
And with that, he left the cell.
Guinan touched her cheek where the Rythrian had hit her. It was hot and sore to the touch.
But it could have been worse. And it would be, if she didn’t come up with an answer Steej liked.
She sat back and closed her eyes, and thought, Picard, what have you done to me?
Guinan understood why he had left her—or thought she did. It was for the sake of his mission.
But the Picard she knew back in San Francisco had placed her above his mission—above even his life. At least, that was the way she remembered it.
I guess I was wrong about him, she conceded with a pang of regret. I gave him too much credit. I believed in him.
And now she was paying the price for her credulity.
Ben Zoma looked across the captain’s sleek, black desk at Lieutenant Kastiigan. “So,” he said, like a man about to activate a phaser while peering blithely into its emitter, “what did you want to talk about?”
He knew the Kandilkari well enough to have some idea of where their conversation was headed. However, Kastiigan was the chief science officer on the Stargazer, and Ben Zoma couldn’t deny him a chance to speak—as much as he might have wanted to.
Kastiigan looked vaguely conspiratorial as he leaned over the edge of the desk. “It’s no secret that Captain Picard’s mission in Oblivion has gone awry somehow. The only thing we don’t know yet is how far awry.”
Ben Zoma nodded. “Fair enough.”
The sciences chief seemed encouraged by the comment. Of course, Ben Zoma mused, he would probably have found a way to continue even if Ben Zoma had told him he was crazy.
“As the captain himself informed us,” said Kastiigan, “he is the only individual capable of carrying out this mission. That is why he entered Oblivion alone. However, if we have not heard from him—neither at the appointed time nor since—should we not be considering the notion of sending in a rescue team?”
Ben Zoma looked at his colleague askance. It hadn’t taken him long, had it?
Ever since his arrival on the ship, Kastiigan had been lobbying for a chance to risk his life. The reason for it almost didn’t seem to matter why. All that mattered was that his hide would be in jeopardy.
“I take it,” said Ben Zoma, “that you want to be part of this rescue team?”
The science officer blinked. “Actually, no.”
The first officer wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. “You don’t?”
“Not at all,” Kastiigan said. “There aren’t any merchant traders among my people. A Kandilkari in Oblivion would stick out like…what is the expression you humans have? Like a damaged appendage?”
“A sore thumb?” Ben Zoma suggested.
“Yes,” said Kastiigan. “Like a sore thumb, exactly. So you can see why it might not be advisable for me to participate in the captain’s rescue.”
Ben Zoma nodded. “Absolutely.”
The Kandilkari’s brow furrowed. “I hope you weren’t counting on me in that regard—as part of a rescue team.”
“No,” the first officer assured him. “Not at all.”
He didn’t get it. Kastiigan was declining an invitation to risk his neck even before Ben Zoma had extended it to him. It made him wonder why Kastiigan had bothered to raise the topic in the first place.
He asked the science officer that very question.
“Because I’m concerned about the captain,” Kastiigan said congenially, “just as everyone else is.”
Ben Zoma supposed it was possible. “I see.”
Kastiigan looked pleased. “Good. So what do you think?”
The human had to pause for a second to remember what he meant. “You mean…about a rescue mission?”
“That’s correct.”
“I’m considerating it,” Ben Zoma said. “But at the moment, I’m still hoping it won’t become necessary.