The Red King - Michael A. Martin [72]
“In other words, this ‘Sleeper’ deity the natives worship is awakening even faster than your briefing data had indicated.”
“That’s one way of looking at it. But that’s not all. The accelerated spatial breakdown will utterly wipe out the central homeworld of the Neyel people within ten Earth days. Titan and your fleet can get there within about two days, though, to assist with their planetary evacuation—”
“You can’t be serious!” Suran said, almost bellowing.
Riker’s eyes flashed like twin glaciers beneath a sunrise. “I’m deadly serious, Commander. We’re directly responsible for what’s happening now. Your people, as well as ours.”
“Perhaps. But what can we hope to accomplish other than throwing all of our lives away—along with this doomed planet?”
“I don’t intend to turn my back on people that our actions placed in danger,” Riker said, beginning to reveal an anger that Donatra didn’t doubt could easily match that of Suran.
Still, she had to favor Suran’s hard pragmatism over Riker’s softer optimism. “How many live on the Neyel homeworld, Captain?” Donatra asked.
“About two billion.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Two billion?”
Riker soldiered on as though he hadn’t noticed her incredulous reaction. “And our Neyel guest tells us that their spacefaring capabilities have diminished quite a bit over the past several decades, as they’ve slowly learned to put aside the worst of their imperial ambitions.”
Donatra shook her head in disbelief. The Federation peacemaker, this Burgess she had read about, had evidently weakened these once-puissant Neyel to the point of utter helplessness. And Federation idealism seemed to have given Riker delusions of omnipotence.
“Suran is right, Captain,” she said. “We couldn’t hope to save more than a tiny fraction of the Neyel population anyway, even if we were to use every ship in my…” She paused to glance at Suran before amending her declaration. “…in our fleet for the purpose.”
“I know that Romulan military officers are fond of paying tribute to the idea of honor by displaying ceremonial swords,” Riker said. “I hope you’re not telling me those Honor Blades of yours are entirely for show.”
As Riker’s insult sank in, Donatra’s upper lip trembled in an involuntary display of rage. The scars that laced her side became livid, singing a silent aria of old pain and anger. “Take care with your words, Captain. I respect you. But there are limits even to that.”
But Riker wasn’t deterred in the least. “Is it honorable to simply abandon an entire world that you’ve helped place in jeopardy?”
“Of course not, Riker. But do you seriously expect to save billions of people?”
“Truthfully, I don’t know what I expect, Commander. But I don’t expect to sit back and do nothing. Not when I’m partially responsible for what’s happening.”
“This is absurd,” Suran said. “As soon as our own crews deem it safe, we’re taking our fleet back to the Great Bloom, which we will then use to return to Romulan space as quickly as possible—before this entire sector truly is erased from existence.”
“We’ll still have time enough to do that,” Riker said, his tone now almost pleading rather than accusing. “After we’ve rescued as many Neyel as we can.”
“Perhaps,” Donatra said, shaking her head yet again. “But perhaps not. The evacuation you propose could easily take more time than we have left to us. And if this entire region of space completely ‘reboots’ itself before we re-enter the Bloom, the entire endeavor will have been in vain. Titan, the Valdore, and the rest of the fleet will all be wiped from existence.”
“I know it’s risky. But I’m prepared to take the risk to correct our error. Alone, if necessary.”
Despite her lingering anger over his harangue, Donatra couldn’t help but admire this human’s dogged courage. For a fleeting moment, it shamed her.
“Of course you’re willing to risk everything on behalf of these people, Captain,” Suran said. “They’re members of your own species, after all. Despite outward appearances, you have much in common