The Last Stand - Brad Ferguson [8]
“The major is right,” General Blakendet said. “It’s not possible to go that fast.”
“Assume it is somehow possible,” the First said coldly. He was growing impatient. “What then?”
General Blakendet shrugged. “I simply don’t know, sir. Under those circumstances, we probably could not detect it.” He paused. “The fact that the unknown has gotten this far indicates that no one else spotted it on the way in, either.”
“A ship from somewhere else,” Kerajem said, almost to himself. “A starship. I wonder …”
The First Among Equals turned to General Blakendet. “General, we are going to assume that the unknown is what it says it is. Send them our greetings and permit them to approach. Take the armed forces down to condition two, and take civil defense down to condition three.”
“Sir,” the general cautioned, “lowering the state of readiness in any way may be dangerous.”
Kerajem laid a hand on the old general’s shoulder. “I know, Blakendet—but, really, what choice do we have? There is no other way out for us. I want to present as peaceful a posture as possible, and we still have at least five days left to us. Before everything ends, we have to talk to that man on the, the starship. We have to find out about him. We have to find out what he might be able do for us.”
“Transmission coming in, Captain,” Worf said presently, “Filtering—there. On audio.”
“This is Nem Ma’ak Bratuna Central Control. You are who? Of the what?”
“I say again, Central Control, that this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise, an interstellar exploration vessel representing the United Federation of Planets. We are here in your star system on a mission of—”
“Never mind. Please stand by.” There was suddenly the sound of hollow wind.
“They have ceased transmitting,” Worf reported.
“They never heard me,” Picard said. “They interrupted their own transmission. Curious.”
“Just for a moment, I think,” Riker observed. “We’re supposed to be standing by. Perhaps they’re digging up someone important enough for us to talk to.”
“If they haven’t dug up someone already,” Picard said. “They’ve had more than enough time to do so since we were first detected.”
“They certainly haven’t had much to say to us,”Riker observed. “They also didn’t seem to spend much time establishing that we are someone they have never encountered before.”
“Perhaps they know it already,” Troi said.
“We are receiving another transmission, Captain,” Worf reported. “Filtering. On audio, sir.”
“Captain Picard, this is Kerajem zan Trikotta, First Among Equals of the Council of Ministers. We serve as the executive branch of the central government of Nem Ma’ak Bratuna. On behalf of the council and all our citizens, I welcome you and your, er, starship to our world. You have clearance to land your craft at the spaceport outside our capital city. We are sending you a homing signal on one-zero-five-five kilohertz. Please follow it to the spaceport. I look forward to meeting you.”
Picard motioned to Worf to open a channel. “We appreciate your great courtesy in allowing us to approach your world, First Among Equals. Our ship is not equipped to make landfall but remains in space at all times. We will take up a parking orbit around your planet, and I and my senior officers will arrive at the spaceport by other means. Our ship will take up orbit around your world in about fifty minutes. I look forward to meeting you shortly after that, sir. Picard out.” The captain waved a hand, and Worf shut down the channel.
“They will receive that message in twelve minutes, twenty-seven seconds,” the Klingon reported.
“‘Other means’?” Troi asked.
Picard nodded. “Number One, have one of the shuttles made ready for use by an away team.”
“Aye, sir.”
Picard turned to address Troi. “Counselor,” Picard told her, “I’m not yet ready to share the news that we possess transporter technology. There is still the Prime Directive to consider. We are about to make first contact, yet we have to make as little contact as possible. I feel as if I’m tap dancing on unusually thin ice.