Slings and Arrows 01_ Sea of Troubles - J. Steven York [22]
Picard paused, weighing his choices.
“In any case,” he continued, “consider this a hostage negotiation. So long as we are talking, the Changeling is not acting against the ship or its crew, and it gives us- ” He looked at Hawk. “- you-time to take action that will neutralize the threat.”
“But security is to look the other way while you set up meetings?” Hawk was reluctant to let the matter stand, despite Picard’s explanation.
“The situation is delicate. If I arrange negotiations, I have to offer some assurance of safe passage to the Changeling. But outside of that specific framework, I grant you full authority to use any means necessary and possible to capture the Changeling.”
Riker’s eyes narrowed. “Capture, Captain?”
“Yes, Number One, capture. If the Changeling is killed, we will have gained nothing from this encounter. I believe it is worth the risk. Deadly force is not to be used except in direct defense of life. Is that clear?”
Hawk nodded, but he wasn’t happy about it, and from his expression, neither was Riker.
“Keep in mind the added security protocols and cooperate with Mr. Hawk in every way possible. Dismissed.”
There was no rush for the door. The senior staff left in twos and threes, moving deliberately, and with everyone watching everyone else. Hawk stood but waited until all but he, Picard, and Riker had left. He lingered in the doorway, but Picard merely looked at him sternly. “You have work to do, Mr. Hawk. I’d suggest you get to it.”
Picard glanced at Riker. “I’m glad you stayed, Number One.”
“This situation concerns me greatly, Captain.”
“As it concerns me, Will, and yet I cannot allow this opportunity to slip by me.” Picard moved back to the window and looked out. His gaze wasn’t focused on the nebula, but rather on something distant and unseen.
“I have always thought of myself as a diplomat and ambassador first, and as a warrior second. Circumstances of recent years have too often required me to reverse those priorities.” He lowered his head, regret softening his posture and clouding his eyes for a moment. “War with the Dominion may be inevitable, but I have always believed that diplomacy has a place in any conflict between species and civilizations. If it cannot prevent war, then it at least has the potential to moderate it, to reduce the death, suffering, and injustice that is the inevitable result of war. At least, that is what I once believed,” he finished, almost to himself.
Riker’s face softened. “The Borg.”
“I came face-to-face with a species that would not talk, a species with which dialogue and negotiation was impossible. The only language the Borg understand is aggression, violence, and reprisal. That, perhaps, is why I feel so strongly about the Borg. Not merely because of the threat they pose, or the countless fellow beings they have killed, or the atrocities they have visited on me personally. It is because of how they drag us down to their primal level in the name of survival. How they rip away our veneer of civilization and bring out the very worst in what we are.”
“The Borg are not your responsibility, Captain.”
He turned and looked at Riker. “If not mine, then whose? Who goaded Q into bringing us into contact? Whose mind, willingly or not, guided the Borg in the slaughter at Wolf 359? Every night I lie awake, thinking, ‘What could I have done differently?’ But ultimately, the answer is that it doesn’t matter. What is done is done.
“So I look into the future and see the Dominion waiting there, and I have much the same, hopeless feeling about them that I do about the Borg. What will we be driven to do before this war is over? Even if we are victorious, what will be the price to our souls?”
CHAPTER 8
Hawk watched as the security teams swept the walls of Ten-Forward with low-power phaser fire from their rifles. The blasts were carefully calibrated to be weak enough not to damage the ship or its furnishings, but strong