To Storm Heaven - Esther Friesner [8]
“The Reclamation was going well. Optimistic reports from the first comers encouraged more settlers to join the movement, which in turn made it necessary to scout out more land that had recovered enough to support communities. It was during one of these explorations that they made their most momentous discovery: They unearthed Miramik, chief city of the motherworld.” “And among the ruins of Miramik we found our history,” Lelys said. She made a small, self-effacing gesture. “I beg you to forgive me, Hara’el; I spoke out of turn. But the discovery of Miramik is a source of unpardonable pride for me, since it was my own brother who led that expedition.” Hara’el’s recently reclaimed selfcontrol vanished as soon as Lelys addressed him directly. Flustered, he stammered out, “Why, why, yes—yes, of course it is.
It—it ought to be! Your brotherwthe honor— perfectly pardonable, any pride you take in—all that followed.” He was making a fool of himself and judging from the look on his face, he knew it. With a great effort, he stopped babbling and said, “It would be only proper for you to speak of it.” He sat down with the air of a man who would not open his mouth again if his life depended on it. Counsellor Troi gave him a sympathetic look, but his eyes were resolutely lowered and it was wasted on him.
“What we—what my brother’s expedition found in the ruins of Miramik was astonishing,” Lelys was saying. “More than astonishing, a miracle! As they were investigating the sublevels of an apparently unimportant structure on the outskirts of the city, they stumbled across a door almost entirely buried in rubble. They would have ignored it—they had no time for more than a cursory exploration—but for the fact that my brother caught sight of the sign attached to the wall beside it. He was an academic when he still lived on Orakisa. He’d studied the written form of the old tongue as it survived in our records, and the moment he interpreted the sign, he knew that they had to get into that room. He was right. The blocked door guarded a treasure greater than anyone could have imagined, a government data bank, shielded and sheltered, almost perfectly preserved, with most of its information intact and retrievable. It was only an auxiliary backup unit—the main storage facilities had been destroyed utterly—but it contained the official records of all colonies ever seeded from the motherworld. That was how we learned that we were not the only child of S’ka’rys. The universe thronged with her daughters. We had given life back to the planet that had given life to ours, and we had been rewarded. Orakisa rejoiced and immediately began plans to contact our long-lost sisters.” “It was my privilege to attend one such ceremony of reunion, when Orakisa reestablished ties with Kikal,” Counsellor Troi said.
“We still recall your service with gratitude,” Lelys said. “Kikal is one of the oldest colonies, and her ways have become very different from ours. Thanks to you and to the Federation we were able to convince a world of strangers that they are truly our kin.” “And to bring that world into the Federation,” Picard commented, “among others. The discovery of the S’ka’rys data bank may lack the glamor of King Tut’s tomb, but on a galactic scale it has proven itself to be infinitely more valuable.” “King Tut’s tomb?” Lelys inquired.
“The multi-chambered burial site of King