The Red King - Michael A. Martin [84]
“Preferably the rift would seal up behind us,” Norellis said. “After we retrace our steps through the anomaly’s interspatial corridor back to Romulan space.”
“Assuming that’s possible,” Riker said.
“Again, the simulations we’ve been running look good,” Jaza said. “Of course, the only way to test them definitively is by actual experiment.” He paused momentarily, allowing everyone to consider his words in silence. Then he continued, his tone as serious as the inscription on a granite tomb. “We have exactly one shot at this.”
Riker sighed. “Of course. Okay, let’s assume we get back home, with the spatial rift slamming shut right on our stern. Won’t our Red King simply emerge again in some other universe?”
“Perhaps,” Cethente said in a voice like a carillon. “But it might lie dormant for billions of years first. It might even return here billions of years from now.”
Riker stroked his beard, a look of concern crumpling his brow. “So would we be arbitrarily killing off a universe full of sentience? Or just postponing the Sleeper’s wakeup call for an eon or two?”
Or maybe we’re just letting the Red King continue his dream for another billion or so years, Norellis thought. So we don’t all suddenly pop out of existence like soap bubbles. Or dreams. He was glad that he seemed for once to be exhibiting the good sense not to babble his every errant thought out loud.
“We really can’t say for certain that we’d actually be killing anything ,” Cethente said. “We might simply be transplanting this nascent universe to some other universe. One that possesses no sapience to be wiped out by the, ah, Sleeper’s full and final awakening.”
“Conversely, we can’t prove that we’re not slaughtering an entire universe full of sentience,” Jaza said. “Of course, we all may well be doing that unwittingly every time we use the sonic shower. Or take an antibiotic.”
“Don’t get us started down that path, Mr. Jaza,” Riker said, allowing a small grin to escape. “We’ll all end up as crazy as a Starfleet Academy exophilosophy instructor I once knew.”
Still studying the padd, Akaar shook his head, then handed the device back to the captain. “My objection is less ethical than practical. The power requirements necessary for success are extraordinary.”
Norellis couldn’t argue with that. He could, however, imagine Ra-Havreii’s head exploding like a supernova when he finally saw the equations on the padd.
“I’m afraid there’s no getting around that, Admiral,” said Jaza. “We would need the warp cores of several dozen Neyel vessels to generate sufficient power. But surely we can persuade the locals to help, given the seriousness of the current crisis.”
Riker was shaking his head. “I’ve tried talking with the Neyel military officers we rescued. Several times. They still behave as though they’re prisoners of war, even now. I’m afraid even Frane isn’t very trusting, and he’s the least paranoid of the bunch. I’m sorry, Mr. Jaza—I think you might have better luck trying to persuade Suran and Donatra to let us blow up their fleet inside the anomaly.”
Akaar actually chuckled at that, a deep sound that made Norellis’s spine feel as though someone had just dipped it into a beaker of liquid nitrogen.
“Actually, the subspace signatures of Romulan singularity drives might make them better suited for this purpose than Neyel warp cores,” Cethente said without a trace of irony. “In fact, we conceived the notion of using multiple vessels in tandem operation after reviewing how the Red King used Commander Donatra’s fleet to destabilize that G-eight star three days ago.”
“Unfortunately, Romulan participation looks like a moot point right now,” Riker replied, once again completely serious. “It looks like you and Dr. Ra-Havreii