The Last Stand - Brad Ferguson [99]
“Look at me, Hek,” demanded Picard. “Look at me. You are the supreme leader of a race of three billion people. You have some skill at reading people. Tell me:Am I lying?”
Hek looked at Picard for a long, long moment. “All right, Picard,” Hek said finally. “Either you’re telling the truth, or you’re the greatest liar I’ve ever met—and I don’t think you’re anywhere near that good.” That drew a laugh from some of the Congress members. “A doomsday weapon, you say? The Lethanta can actually blow up a G0-type star? From what I understand of stars, that can’t be done.”
“Yes, it can.”
Hek waved a hand. “All right. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the Lethanta can do this. What are we supposed to do about it?”
Picard began ticking off Kerajem’s demands on his fingers. “The Krann fleet must cease all hostilities against the Lethanta at once. All Krann vessels are to remain at station-keeping. The Krann and the Lethanta will immediately commence meaningful, Federation-mediated negotiations to resolve their differences.”
Many members of the Fleet Congress began to boo, and Hek almost smirked. “You actually want us to have ‘meaningful negotiations’ with the people who destroyed our world,” he said. “Picard, I’m astonished. Perhaps we’ll let them live, if what you say about the doomsday weapon is true—but come to an agreement with them? You’re hallucinating.”
“Nonsense,” Picard said, and he allowed his annoyance to show. “Your war against the Lethanta isn’t any noble crusade, Hek. It’s nothing more than an elitist ploy to spread wealth and power among the civilian and military leadership of the Krann. Most of your people have never even heard of the Lethanta, much less want to go to war with them.”
The turbolift door slid open, and Beverly Crusher stepped onto the bridge. Picard turned and saw her. “Ah, Doctor. Have you completed your work?”
“Yes, Captain, and so has Mr. La Forge. I have the results you asked for—and the proof.” She looked at the screen and held up an isolinear chip.
“What’s this about, Picard?” Hek demanded.
Picard clasped his hands behind his back and began. “As you know, Presider Hek, we recently visited your ancestral homeworld and took a large number of biological samples. Necessarily, we also took some samples of the biological agent that ran rampant on your original world and killed all higher orders of life. Dr. Crusher has spent a great deal of time since then trying to figure out just what this biological entity was. Would you like to continue, Doctor?”
“I’d be pleased to, Captain. Presider Hek, I have done a thorough analysis of that biological agent, and I have the findings here. I regret to inform you that the agent is not Lethantan. It is entirely of Krann origin, and it is entirely natural.”
“Eh?” Hek said, looking confused. “What’s that you say?”
“The virus that destroyed most life on your world arose naturally. It happens, Presider Hek. The catastrophe that befell your world was a natural occurrence. The Lethanta did not attack you. When you bombed their world, the few survivors left that star system as quickly as they could. They never attacked your planet in retaliation for your attack on them.”
“I don’t believe it!” Hek exploded. “The Lethanta killed our world! The virus was not an accident!” The members of the Fleet Congress began shouting.
Kerajem nearly collapsed, and Beverly rushed over to steady him. “I’m sorry,” she told him. “I didn’t realize this would be quite such a shock to you.”
“This is beyond belief,” said the First Among Equals. “Dr. Crusher, Captain, all our people have been brought up with the terrible guilt of knowing that we destroyed the world of the Krann for no reason other than spite. Now it turns out not to be true. It never was.” There was a touch of wonder in his voice as he said it.
Picard addressed the Krann leader. “Presider Hek, Dr. Crusher’s findings are being broadcast throughout your Fleet even as we speak. Every device you have that is capable