The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [152]
I shrugged. “The Dominion invaded Ricktor Prime. We were defending our territory.”
“Exactly. But if there wasn’t a state of war between the Dominion and the Federation, would your actions at Ricktor Prime have been justified?”
I hesitated.
Deanna went on. “You would have at least attempted a peaceful solution—but war has been declared. If there is to be a peaceful solution, it would not have happened at Ricktor Prime. Ethics can be situational—what you did at Ricktor Prime would have been a court-marial offense three years ago but is an act of heroism now.”
“Hardly that,” I said, but did not argue the point further. “Yes, all right, perhaps so, but where does it end?”
“I think the better question is, why did it start?”
Again, I was brought up short. “What do you mean?”
Now Deanna was speaking more formally, counselor to captain rather than therapist to patient. “Captain, it is completely inappropriate for you to interrogate Gul Madred—and potentially damaging. Besides undermining Lieutenant Daniels’s authority, you also are exposing yourself to psychological damage. Madred’s treatment of you six years ago is a wound that his presence has ripped open. This ship cannot afford a wounded captain right now.”
“Counselor, you don’t understand, I needed—”
Now she was back to being a therapist. “Captain, I understand completely, more than anyone, because I know the truth. As you just said, he broke you. So why do you keep going back to see him? Why do you continue to let him hold power over you?”
Shaking my head, I said, “He doesn’t have any power over me, Counselor, he’s my prisoner.”
“No, Captain. You’re still his.”
I found I had nothing to say. The notion was ridiculous.
Wasn’t it?
Very quietly, Deanna said, “I’ve watched the recordings of your sessions with Madred. He has manipulated every conversation you two have had. As far as he’s concerned, you never left his office, and he’s still trying to break you.”
I thought back to the conversations in the brig and realized that—as usual—Deanna was right.
“I’ve been a fool,” I whispered.
“No,” she said, “you’ve been a victim. That’s not a crime, Captain.”
“Perhaps not.” I stood up, straightening my uniform. “But allowing him to continue to victimize me is.”
With that, I turned and left the counselor’s office.
“It’s up to you. A life of ease and reflection and intellectual challenge—or this.” He indicates the office where I have been for the past several days, subject to his whims and manipulations.
Barely able to speak, I ask, “What must I do?”
“Nothing, really.” He looks up at the lights. “Tell me how many lights you see.”
I look up. The lights blind me, but I stare directly into them. Madred has said that the Enterprise is destroyed, and I am believed to have perished with them. I have nothing left.
“How many?”
I stare at the lights.
“How many lights?” The door behind me opens. “This is your last chance. The guards are coming. Don’t be a stubborn fool. How many?”
I’m about to answer, to tell him that I do in fact see five lights, when another Cardassian gul appears at my side. He’s furious at Madred. “You told me he would be ready to go.”
“We had some unfinished business,” Madred says rather lamely.
Angrily, the other gul says, “Get him cleaned up! A ship is waiting to take him back to the Enterprise.”
It was another lie. Only this time, I believed it.
From my ready room, I instructed the computer to show me the feed from the brig. The station on my desk lights up and I see Lieutenant Daniels standing where I had stood previously.
Madred sat on his bunk, looking confused. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lieutenant Daniels, chief of security of the Enterprise. I have a few questions for you, Gul Madred.”
“What has happened to Captain Picard?”
Daniels smiled. “The captain is a busy man—he has better things to do than listen to the likes of you.”
And then Madred threw his head back, and he laughed.
I frowned. This was not what I was expecting.
“What’s so funny?” Daniels’s tone was of great annoyance.
Madred