The Last Stand - Brad Ferguson [7]
“Central Control of Nem Ma’ak Bratuna to spacecraft. Identify yourself immediately.”
Picard paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts, and then he addressed the air. “This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. We are here on a peaceful mission of exploration. To whom have I the honor of speaking?”
There was silence. “Where are they, Mr. Worf?” Picard asked after a moment. “Did we lose them?”
“This is a standard radio signal, sir. It is traveling at light-speed. We will not receive an answer for some time.”
Data spoke up. “Twenty-nine minutes and fifty-three seconds, sir, at this distance and given our own velocity—that is, if they transmit a reply immediately.”
Picard frowned. “Half an hour,” he complained. “Ridiculous! How can one do any meaningful business under these conditions?”
Riker considered it. “We could get to Planet Three fairly quickly at warp three, sir. The light-speed delay to standard orbit is on the order of a quarter of a second each way. It would make talking to them a lot easier.”
“Mr. Data?” Picard prompted.
“Estimated travel time to Planet Three at warp factor three is two minutes and twenty-nine seconds, Captain.”
“Thank you.” Picard thought about it and then shook his head. “No. We’ve frightened these people more than enough already. No doubt we’re under close observation by whoever is running things on Planet Three—on Nem Ma’ak Bratuna, that is. It’s bad enough that we were detected; being seen going into warp under these conditions might be profoundly disturbing to this culture. We’ll maintain our present course and speed.” He paused. “It’s not all bad, you know,” he said, smiling a little. “The light-speed delay will give everyone time to think a bit.”
“—Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. We are here on a peaceful mission of exploration. To whom have I the honor of speaking?”
“This is Nem Ma’ak Bratuna Central Control,” the War Room communications officer sputtered into his microphone. “You are who? Of the what?”
General Blakendet whirled. “No unauthorized transmissions!” he barked. “Order the unknown to stand by, and then be quiet.”
“Yes, sir!”
“A starship?” Kerajem asked. “I wonder what that might be?”
Klerran fes Dresnai, the minister for science and education, cleared his throat to speak. “First Among Equals, if I might—”
Kerajem turned. “Yes, Klerran?”
“First, the term ‘starship’ is frequently used in, uh, fantastic literature—fiction, I mean to say. Starships are said to be able to travel fast enough, much faster than light, to make an interstellar trip possible within a practical period of time. We use the term ourselves when we talk of future design possibilities.”
Major Hassandit snorted. “Excuse me, First, but do we have to listen to this nonsense? Faster-than-light travel is impossible. This is a waste of time.”
Klerran turned red. “With all due respect, Major, this may be important. Fantasy is fantasy, but this is reality—and the truth is out there.” He pointed to the screen, where the big crimson disk representing the unknown glowed brightly to denote the speed of its approach.
“Let the minister talk, Major,” Blakendet said brusquely. “The unknown did report itself to be a ‘starship,’ whatever that is, and I know as much about that as you do. I’m much more concerned about how the unknown managed to get as far in-system as Ma’ak Unselbe without our detecting it first.”
Hassandit persisted. “General, the unknown may be nothing more than a ploy to distract us at this most critical moment. If so, it’s working.”
“If the Krann could build that, they’d have been here long since,” Klerran said bitingly. “This isn’t a trick, Kerajem. This is real. Those are aliens out there.”
Kerajem scratched his chin in thought. After a moment, he asked, “Do you think we could have been able to detect the unknown during its approach if it had been traveling through the outer