The Last Stand - Brad Ferguson [35]
“Amen to that,” Rikkadar breathed.
That was good enough for Picard. “I think we should recess these talks for now,” Picard said, smiling amiably. “I suggest that our next meeting be held at Government House at a time to be announced. Mr. Worf will have someone escort you back to your quarters before you leave the ship, if you like, or you may go with him directly to the transporter room.”
“Can you send me directly to my home, Captain?”
“Surely, Minister Klerran. We can send you wherever you like.”
“I’ve got quite a story to tell my wife.” Klerran glanced out the window for a moment. “Quite a story.”
After they left, Troi turned to the captain. “You’re worried,” she said to him.
“You’re right,” Picard told her candidly. “After all, we did detect those warp-field traces. They were generated within this star system, and they were real enough. If it isn’t the Lethanta who are developing warp drive, then it’s the Krann.”
“Now that’s an intimidating prospect.” Riker frowned. “One hundred and sixty thousand starships armed for planetary conflict suddenly take up station right on the edge of Federation space. The Krann would become an instant superpower—and a potential threat.”
“Yes,” Picard said, nodding, “We are going to have to talk with those people as soon as possible—not only to try to avert their attack on the Lethanta, but quite possibly to protect the Federation as well.” He handed the Lethantan cube to Data. “It seems you’ve got a great deal of reading to do, Mr. Data,” he said. “Please get through these religious scrolls as quickly as you can. I’ll expect your précis by twenty-one hundred hours.”
“Certainly, Captain.”
“Excellent,” Picard said, nodding. “Thank you for your good work today, everyone. Dismissed.”
Chapter Eight
TEN-FORWARD WAS EMPTY when Picard entered—empty, of course, except for her. She was polishing a glass that didn’t need it, killing time. As usual, everything was neat as a pin, waiting for him.
“Uncanny,” the captain said, standing at the entrance and shaking his head. “How did you know?”
“How did I know what?” Guinan asked, putting down the glass she was polishing and picking up another. She was smiling a sly, close-lipped smile that told him quite clearly that she already knew.
Picard said it anyway. “How do you know to be here, waiting for me, whenever I feel a real need to talk?”
“It’s a gift,” she said, shrugging. “You find it uncanny?”
“I find it utterly necessary and most convenient.” He took a seat and accepted the drink proffered by Guinan. “Ah,” he said, holding it to the light and studying the contents. “Just what I was in the mood for.”
Guinan kept her eyes on the glass she was polishing. “Uncanny, isn’t it?”
Picard saluted her with the glass. “Thank you for getting up in the middle of the night,” he said, and sipped.
“Who says I wasn’t up already,” she said, smiling. “Well, I figure we’ve got about ten minutes to ourselves before someone decides to come in here. What’s bothering you, Jean-Luc?”
“We’re to leave orbit later this morning to make rendezvous with the craft we have identified as the flagship of the Krann fleet.”
“‘Have identified’?” Guinan asked, taking a third glass from the rack. “That implies you haven’t talked to them yet.”
“No. They haven’t responded to our hails.”
Guinan looked up. “And you’re going to go talk to them anyway?”
“Yes. I must.”
She nodded and turned her attention back to the glass. “What’s kept you up tonight, Jean-Luc?”
“Data supplied me with a report on the religious writings of the Lethanta, the inhabitants of the planet below. I’ve been going over it.”
“And?”
“And they’re about what I expected,” the captain replied. “The writings represent the usual mixture of historical record and basic moral principles that one usually finds in the ancient literature of humanoid cultures, but at least the writings are internally consistent. I was gratified that they bore out what the Lethanta leadership had told me about their past.”
“The writings may have been lies themselves when they were written, you know.”
“I know that, but