Ship of the Line - Diane Carey [100]
Picard’s words rang in the room, then hung there, almost visible before Madred’s eyes. Picard had changed, or perhaps Madred had misread him at the beginning. It was time for a strategic retreat. All strategy aside, Madred has to admit that his daughter’s life, and her respect, were worth more than his prisoners. Picard had indeed found the crack in Madred’s armor.
Madred forced himself to meet the supreme glare of Jean-Luc Picard. “All right, Picard,” Madred said, “I’ll tell you where your people are. The galaxy is full of people. I can always get more.” It sounded hollow even to Madred’s own ears. His days as master manipulator were over. Quickly, he fed a set of coordinates to the Klingon’s tricorder.
“Verified,” the Klingon said. “The ship reports multiple human life signs at that location.”
“Thank you, Gul Madred,” Picard said formally. “As for your acquiring more people, we’ll see about that.” The device in his hand went to 10, then 9, then 8.
“Picard,” Madred shouted, “stop that damned thing! You have what you want.”
“Do I?” Picard said. The device showed the number 7. Picard glanced at the ceiling. “Tell me, how many lights are up there? Four or five?”
Madred felt the blood in his body run cold. The tables had been turned against him. To his surprise, his daughter’s life meant more to him than even his pride.
“Four or five, whichever you prefer!” Madred shouted. “Now stop that thing!”
The device moved from 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 to zero. Madred threw himself between his daughter and the device, to shield her with his body.
Jil Orra stepped back, and Madred found himself on his knees in front of Picard. The device emitted a buzzing sound, then stopped. Nothing else happened. The counter on the device reset to 100 and started counting down again.
“So,” Madred said from the floor, “you didn’t have the courage for it after all. The courage to die. The courage to kill.”
“With all due respect to Mr. Worf here,” Picard said, “neither killing nor dying takes courage. You thought you were teaching me pain and fear, Gul Madred, but instead you taught me that it is living that takes courage, finding a way to go on despite pain and loss. As I’m sure you will find a way to go on despite this little setback. But for now, I have business to attend to. Captain Atherton. Captain Fernando, and their crews.”
Madred got to his feet and offered a congratulatory nod. “Yes,” he said, “this way.”
Chapter 21
“Ow …”
Somebody groaned.
Dark in here. Blurry. The smell of lubricant. New ship.
“Will, wake up. Wake up. Come out of it.”
Captain Picard?
Same kind of voice—theatrical, resonant …
Suddenly the wallowing snapped off and Riker was rushing upward as he lay on a platform, as if he were being hoisted up out of his own grave, toward the rectangular light at the surface.
The groaning came again … his own. This time he felt the rumble in his throat. His head throbbed.
“Wake up.”
“Captain … where are we?”
“They stuck us in an ASRV. You, me, and Scotty.”
Lifepod. Not much in here for fighting back. Riker struggled to sit up, blinking as his eyes focused on the unconscious form of Mr. Scott, lying against the other bulkhead of the very small lifepod, and actually snoring as if he were taking a nap.
“Where’s the crew?”
Bateson pulled Riker to a sitting position. “He got in the personnel files. He separated the crews and put all my men from the Bozeman on his wrecked ship and set it adrift. Evidently we got in a few good shots before he whipped the tar out of me.”
“Where’s everybody else?”
“Locked somewhere below, or in other pods. In the main section, I think. Probably a shuttle hangar, where they’d have trouble getting out. It’s Kozara’s way of insulting us by not letting us die in battle.”
“How do you know all this if you were unconscious too?”
“Kozara wanted the pleasure of telling me. I guess he gave me a stimulant, because I woke up just as he and his baboons were shoving us in here. He made a point of hauling Data past me like some kind of big marionette with the strings cut. How did they do that to