The Last Stand - Brad Ferguson [94]
“We’ve watched as your ships destroyed three large Krann vessels just minutes ago. The Krann craft were city ships, populated by nearly a million and a half civilians.”
“Those ships were destroyed in reprisal for the loss of our cities. We are the ones who were attacked, Captain. Not they.”
“Then your dead are revenged, First, for what that is worth. Can we not stop there?”
Kerajem bowed his head wearily. “We will stop if they will stop, and not otherwise,” he said. “We did not want this war, Captain Picard, but we will not run from it.”
“If I can arrange a ceasefire in place, will you observe it?”
“Yes—if you can arrange it. Meanwhile, we fight.”
“I will do my best. Picard out. Get me Hek,” he said to Harkey through clenched teeth.
Harkey looked up. “Presider Hek is calling you, Captain.”
“Put him on screen.” Picard took a deep, calming breath. “Presider Hek,” he said, “I want to offer a proposal for a ceasefire—”
“Forget it,” the Krann leader said. His eyes seemed afire. “This is not the time for a ceasefire. My people have waited for millennia for this day. Today we destroy those who nearly destroyed us. You won’t stop us. Nothing can. Our third wave is about to begin its attack on Nem Ma’ak Bratuna.” He laughed. “There won’t be much left for the fourth wave to mop up, not after that. Then will come the planetwide radioactive dusting, and that will be that.” There was suddenly an expression of sheerest joy on Hek’s face. “Finally, finally, we have arrived at the day of the death of the hated Lethanta,” he crowed. “My ancestors will be able to rest at long last.”
“The Lethanta are destroying your ships,” Picard said. “Can’t you see?”
“They’ve blown up three city ships,” Hek responded. “That leaves us with a paltry fifty-two thousand and some odd. By the way, Captain, how are you feeling?”
Picard frowned. “We immediately detected your attempt to infect the ship, Hek. It wasn’t even close to successful.”
Hek grinned. “I confess I’m disappointed, Picard. Despite your self-proclaimed neutral status, your continued presence in this system makes me nervous. I simply don’t trust you, Captain. My people informed me that the virus they used was undetectable.”
“Perhaps it was—for you. Not for us.”
“My,” Hek said. “You are advanced.”
“And the superweapon in Bay Fourteen was—?”
“A telescope, tarted up to look like it could blow a hole in your precious Enterprise. You were supposed to see right through it, of course, and you did—just as you were supposed to detect that young Wiggin was planted at the party by our intelligence people. Captain, we knew where your people were on our flagship the instant they arrived. We’ve had centuries to install sensors in every nook and cranny of this vessel. Nothing here escapes notice. Nothing. When your Riker and Troi suddenly appeared, we deduced that your civilization possessed some form of matter transmission—and so you do; now that’s a secret I’d like for us. In any case, when Riker and Troi arrived, we integrated them into our strategic planning.”
“All of this nonsense with Wiggin was to distract us from the real plot against us,” Picard said. “All the while, you were infecting Counselor Troi with the virus.”
“Correct,” Hek replied. “It’s spread quite easily by skin-to-skin contact, and Wiggin kept patting Troi on the hand. Troi then unwittingly passed it to Commander Riker. It’s a wonderful little virus, Captain. All it does in the first few hours is make you drowsy and take the edge off your appetite. Then, sometime during the second day, your heart and lungs suddenly become inflamed and septic, and out you go. Of course, we’ve all been immunized.”
“How convenient for you.”
Hek stifled a yawn. “Is there more, Captain? Because if there isn’t—”
“I suppose there is nothing more to say at this time.”
“Then good-bye.”
“Sir?” Gomez said. “Shuttlebay Three reports the shuttlecraft has returned with all hands