The Farther Shore - Christie Golden [23]
He stared at her, stunned at the frankness of her speech. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Chakotay start smiling. He knew where she was going with this.
“I think the Doctor is very wise, Mr. Baines, and the advice he gave you was excellent. Slaves in the 1800s would never have been freed if the people in power at the time had not realized the injustice of their ways and pushed to end a dreadful institution. A hundred years later, the Civil Rights movement would have been a failure if it had only been African Americans protesting discrimination. And violence against women would not have ended had not men worked alongside women to make it stop. It’s fine for the holograms to stand up for their rights, and they should. But if you keep pushing this, those of us who are actually on your side are going to be forced to turn against you and decry what you are doing.”
“But how can I make them see?” he cried, his voice breaking. If nothing else, Baines was no cynic. It was obvious he cared passionately about his holographic friends.
[67] “You lived with the Doctor for seven years. You had a chance to see him rise above what he was designed for, to learn to like him as a person. Everyone else thinks of holograms as slaves or servants, not people. How can I make them understand without something being at stake if they don’t?”
“It seems to me that the Doctor did a fine job of conveying what it was like to be a hologram, destined to be at the beck and call of his creators,” said Janeway. “His holonovel really made the reader feel the humiliation, the fear. He got that information across clearly and profoundly, with not so much as a scratch. Don’t underestimate the power of words, Mr. Baines. You don’t always need to hurt people to get their attention.”
He had seemed to be listening, but now he was shaking his head. “Your way will take too long,” he said flatly. “Too many will be taken off-line, or reprogrammed. I can’t afford to wait.”
“Maybe you won’t have to.”
He looked at her suspiciously, but said, “I’m listening.”
Janeway made her decision. It was all or nothing now.
“I’ll admit it. We were planning a jailbreak of our own to free Seven, Icheb, and the Doctor, all of whom are in what I believe to be immediate danger. I can’t afford to wait, either. You can help us, if you will. Help us to buy some time and minimize loss of life.”
Baines snorted. “It’s a trap. I’m not an idiot, Admiral.”
She shook her head, aware that Chakotay was staring at her. Apparently, he hadn’t known where she was going with this.
“No trap, Mr. Baines. I give you my word. If you [68] assist us, I promise you will have a chance to talk to the Doctor within a few hours of his liberation.”
He shook his head so violently his hair flew. “No. I don’t trust you. You’ll betray me. The Doctor will never be free if I—”
“How dare you!” The words cracked like an old-fashioned pistol shot. Even Chakotay started, and Baines shut his mouth so quickly that his teeth snapped together. Janeway rarely gave in to her emotions so freely, but she couldn’t help it and frankly didn’t want to.
“How dare you!” she repeated. “You say you understand the depth of feeling I have for the Doctor. If that’s true, how can you accuse me of sitting here worrying about setting a trap for you when they’re about to destroy him? He’s an icon to you, a symbol of your revolution, a tool. But he’s a hell of a lot more than that to me. He’s my friend. I’ll die before I let them harm him, Mr. Baines, and if you believe nothing else I say, then you’d damn well better believe that.”
They stared at one another for a long moment. Finally, Baines spoke.
“I do believe that, Admiral. And I will help you in any way I can.”
Chapter 6
THE RAIN WAS surprisingly cold.
B’Elanna huddled miserably under what little shelter she had been able to find, a cluster of enormous leaves close to the ground. She was grateful