Three - Michael Jan Friedman [45]
His superiors at Starfleet Command had placed their trust in him. They had given him whatever he needed to make use of his talents. And somehow, he had found the audacity to throw it back in their faces.
Vigo could never have imagined that his friendship with Ejanix would come to this. A part of him simply [133] refused to accept it. And yet, he had seen the evidence of his mentor’s treachery with his own eyes.
“Someone’s coming,” Runj snapped.
Vobilites were known for their keen sense of hearing. But when Vigo concentrated, he could hear it too—the clatter of boot heels on the floor outside their prison.
Someone was coming, all right. The Pandrilite exchanged glances with Sebring and Runj, wondering what it meant. Another beating, perhaps?
A moment later, the footsteps arrived outside their open door. But when their guards deactivated the transparent barrier and stepped aside, it wasn’t Kovajo they admitted into the room.
It was Ejanix.
Once, Vigo would have known exactly what to expect of him. Now, he couldn’t begin to guess.
Ejanix considered Sebring and Runj, who looked back at him with battered faces. Then his gaze fell on Vigo and remained there for a moment.
Finally, Ejanix walked over to his former student and said, “How are you?”
“I’ve been better,” said Vigo.
“You shouldn’t have sabotaged that shuttle,” Ejanix told him. “That was a mistake.”
“It was my duty as a Starfleet officer to keep your friends from stealing what’s stored here.”
“Is that all you can see?” Ejanix asked, his forehead ridging over. “Your obligations to the aliens’ Starfleet?”
Vigo looked at him wonderingly. “The aliens’ Starfleet? And not yours?”
[134] “I thought it was mine when I worked at the Academy. But I’ve since learned otherwise.”
“From Kovajo?” Vigo asked.
Ejanix stiffened a bit. “Him ... and others like him.”
Vigo shook his head. “I don’t understand. What could they have said to you that would make you become a traitor to the Federation?”
His mentor looked as if he had eaten something rancid. “I call myself a rebel, not a traitor.”
“A rebel?” Vigo echoed. “What is there for a Pandrilite to rebel against?”
“A great deal,” said Ejanix. “Our society and everything it has come to represent.”
Vigo shook his head. “What are you saying? For the first time in ages, everything on Pandril is in balance. The modern era has been hailed as a golden age.”
“Because our people devote themselves to the Three Virtues—Humility, Selflessness, and Stoicism.”
“That’s right.”
Ejanix made a sound of derision. “Spoken like a true member of the Elevated Castes.”
Vigo hadn’t expected that sort of comment. “What has my caste got to do with it?”
“It may appear that there is balance from your narrow, patrician point of view. But if you come down to the catacomb levels, down to the place where the Lesser Castes live, you will see that Pandril is in disarray. Every day is an injustice, tolerable only to those who perpetrate it.”
The weapons officer didn’t understand. “If there are injustices, then why not petition the council to correct them?”
[135] “The council is already aware of them,” said Ejanix. “The councilors, in their unassailable wisdom, simply choose to look the other way.”
“That’s difficult to believe,” Vigo told him. “Those who serve on the council—”
“Are supposed to be beyond reproach,” said Ejanix. “I know that. Every Pandrilite knows that. But the councilors are not what you think. They exist only to preserve the status quo, which serves the purposes of the Elevated Castes—and frustrates the ambitions of the Lesser ones.
“And the Virtues are just like the council—pillars of What Is, bars against What Might Be. It’s easy to ask others to remain humble, to remain selfless, and to endure hardship, when you need never worry about doing so yourself.”
Vigo shook his head. “This doesn’t sound like you, Ejanix. It sounds like some deluded malcontent.”
“I am a malcontent,” his friend said without hesitation. “But you’re the one who