Requiem - Michael Jan Friedman [9]
The captain shrugged. “Perhaps … though we did see a great deal. Kirk’s situation came down to a choice and a set of consequences. Anything could happen—he could live, or die. His ship and crew would be won or lost. The moment we see is uncertain, yet full of possibilities—including the one possibility that Captain Kirk saw but we do not.”
Riker eyed his commanding officer. “And we never will know what that possibility was. The Metrons stopped sending the signal, and Starfleet sealed the records. We don’t know what he did.”
“True,” Picard conceded. “However, we are privileged to see the moment when the choices came into focus. I suspect Captain Kirk merely seized the moment and did whatever he had to do. Or, perhaps, the only thing he could do.”
The first officer looked rueful. “That kind of thinking didn’t help me in the Gorn simulation at the Academy. My adversary killed me twice before I beat him.”
Picard halted in mid-stride. “You defeated the Gorn on your third attempt?”
Riker nodded. “I was actually in the middle of trying to reproduce the primitive cannon Captain Kirk had prepared, when I realized what a pointless exercise it was. Besides the risk the cannon posed, the chances of hitting anything—let alone a moving target—were astronomical. Instead, I went through the motions with gunpowder but no projectiles. When the Gorn came close enough, I set off the cannon for effect. In all the smoke and haze, I clubbed him with a rock.”
“You … won?” As the two men reached the turbolift door and entered, Picard shook his head in disbelief. “Bridge,” he said.
“Won is a strong word,” Riker amended. “I beat the Gorn captain all right. But as a result, the Gorn fought a simulated war on the Federation. By the time I finished counting the casualty figures, I had learned my lesson.”
The captain turned to him. “And what was that, Number One?”
“I’m still not sure, sir. I’d say it was another example of the no-win scenario, but we know that there was at least one solution that didn’t entail the destruction of a Starfleet vessel or the beginning of a war. That was Captain Kirk’s solution.”
Picard folded his arms across his chest. “On to business, Will. I want you to become almost as familiar with Gorn concerns as I am. It’s not my intention to be the only one who can carry out this assignment.”
Riker shifted uncomfortably, Picard noticed. “Something, Will?”
“May I be frank, sir?” Riker asked.
“Of course,” Picard nodded.
“This summit is happening now solely on the basis of your meeting with the Gorn twenty-five years ago. It was the strength of your work and personality that kept us from going to war then.”
Now it was the captain’s turn to feel uncomfortable. “It wasn’t quite like that, Number One. A great deal of the credit goes to the Gorn. They did most of the work in actually creating the agreement. I merely stumbled onto a method of communicating with them.”
The turbolift opened and deposited the two men on the bridge. Picard moved toward his chair but didn’t sit down. This would not take long.
“Mr. Data, report.”
Commander Data took his eyes off his control panel at the ops station and turned his head to face his captain. “Sir, we have begun our detour around Metron space. At warp four, we will reach the coordinates provided by the Gorn in six-point-four days.”
“Plenty of breathing room,” Riker interjected.
The android gave a practiced nod. “Yes, sir.” He looked directly at the captain. “Enough time that I would like to suggest investigating a very large mass—one which was not charted when the Stargazer explored this sector of space under your command.”
At that, Picard decided to sit down after all. “Did we miss something, Data?”
“Quite possibly, sir. However, the mass is giving very low energy readings. In all likelihood, the Stargazer’s sensors would not have been sensitive enough to detect it except at very close range.”
The captain noted that Riker had sat down beside him.
“Low power,