The Last Stand - Brad Ferguson [16]
“Greetings, Captain,” Rikkadar said warmly as he shook Picard’s hand. “May ours be a long and lasting friendship.”
“Let us be sure to make it so, Minister Rikkadar.”
Kerajem indicated another landing pad about fifty meters away. There were two large craft standing by. “I thought you might enjoy flying into the city by jethopper,” the First said. “They may be a bit old-fashioned, but they travel slowly enough to give one a chance to appreciate the scenery.”
“And I would appreciate the chance to see it,” Picard said, looking toward the distant Kajja Kojja. “Those mountains to the east are really quite beautiful.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Kerajem said. “I was born there, as was Minister Rikkadar.”
“Then I’ll be certain to go see them,” Picard said agreeably.
“I’ll be happy to take you there myself, Captain, a little later during your visit with us,” Kerajem told him. He gestured toward the waiting jethoppers. “Meanwhile, perhaps we’d all best get started for town.”
“That suits us very well,” Picard said.
Kerajem, Security Minister Jemmagar, and old Rikkadar were sitting with Captain Picard and the rest of the Enterprise party in a comfortably appointed lounge in the forward section of the lead jethopper. The other ‘hopper, with the remainder of the Council of Ministers aboard, was following theirs into the capital.
Picard was looking out one of the panoramic passenger windows as the countryside rolled past and under them. “I see we’re following a highway,” he observed, smiling. “More fun than instrument flying any day. I suppose pilots are pilots, wherever they might be found.”
Kerajem smiled back. “Highway One is the only road to and from the spaceport,” he said. “This is a regular run for me. I take it, then, that you yourself have flown something like this craft we’re in, Captain.”
“Yes,” Picard said agreeably. “Yes, I have—something very much like it, anyway. I think they’re great fun.” The captain leaned back in his seat and put his fingertips together in the almost prayerful way he had whenever he was about to broach a difficult subject. “Kerajem, I hope we can discuss matters freely, when it comes time. There is a great deal we would like to know.”
The First Among Equals nodded. “I think I can promise you that we will be at least as forthcoming as you, Captain. After all, trust begets trust.”
“Indeed it does,” Picard said, nodding. He looked out the window. “Kerajem, I hope you don’t mind my asking you a rather direct question.”
“Please do.”
“The countryside here seems rather, well, bare,” Picard said, gesturing toward the outside. “I see no towns and few structures of any sort. There seems to be no infrastructure—only that one highway below us, for example. That’s not typical of the surrounding territory of the planetary capitals with which I am familiar, sir. Usually such areas are quite crowded.”
“You find it curious?” Kerajem asked, genuinely puzzled. “I suppose I don’t see anything strange about it. It’s the way we do things. There are historical reasons for that, of course. There always are.”
Picard was all attention. “I’d surely like to hear all about those reasons, Kerajem.”
“Certainly,” the First said. “We’ll talk at Government House. I expect that we will find that we have much in common. After all, you’ve already—”
Jemmagar interrupted. “That’s all very well,” the minister for security said, “but I dare say that we had better not be the only party to this conversation who will be forthcoming. Kerajem, I tried to warn you—”
“I need no warning, Jemmagar,” Kerajem said quietly, holding up a hand. “Captain, you must excuse the … enthusiasm of my colleague. As you will surely understand, he is, shall we say, caught up in the moment. These are trying times, as you will surely understand, and the strain on all of us has been enormous.”
“Of course,” Picard said reassuringly. Trying times? What the devil is he talking about? “I would assure Minister Jemmagar, and you, sir, that we are here to further mutual