To Storm Heaven - Esther Friesner [82]
Am I still a child? Am I still ignorant in your eyes?” She wrapped her arms around herself and bitterly added, “Not even Bilik ever spoke to me so when he tried to turn me from becoming an oberyin. This is not love.” “Ma’adrys!” Geordi tried to take her into his arms, but she shrugged him off and turned her back on him.
“Ma’adrys, please, hear me out. I’ve found a way to make everything right between your world and Ne’elat, a plan that will force the Ne’etatians to see that the Ashkaarians are worthy of treatment as equals.” “Force?” she echoed hopefully. “Then all that you have told me of the law your people follow, the one that prevents you from interfering in the ways of other worlds, it can be set aside’?” Geordi grasped her shoulders and compelled her to look at him. “All right, maybe force isn’t the right word. It can’t be. I’m a Starfleet officer. I can’t intervene in relations between Ashkaar and Ne’elat, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see that something has to be done to reestablish equality of your worlds, if only so that Ashkaar can benefit from Ne’elatian medical knowledge. If my plan succeeds, the sisterworlds will come together on their own.” “But why all this secrecy?” Ma’adrys demanded.
“Why do you not suspend this law of yours only for a little while, until all is set right between Iskir and the false ones, and act? I have seen your ship. You have great power. You could make the false ones undo the evil of ages instantly, easily!” “It wouldn’t be easy, Ma’adrys,” Geordi said. “It would be impossible. Don’t you think I want to better things for your people as quickly as can be? But if Im if any Starfleet officer ever did use the power of Federation technology at will, where would it end? We can’t remake the universe to suit our personal ideas of right and wrong. If we did, we’d soon be no better than Ne’elat.” Her look was as cold as the wind that suddenly swept down the mountainside. “So you choose the path of deceit instead.” “I choose the path of guidance. The Masra’et of Ne’elat have seen how superior our technology is to theirs. We could force them to treat your people the way we think they should be treated, but for how long? We couldn’t stay here playing moral watchdog forever. The Ne’elatians would always resent us, and they’d soon find a way to take it out on Ashkaar. But if they choose to change on their own, without ever suspecting our role in that decision, it can only profit everyone concerned. That is why the need for secrecy, my love.” “Lies,” Ma’adrys said sullenly, lowering her head.
“I am tired of so many lies. I heard the wise ones teach of blessed Evramur, only to discover it was all a lie. I heard you speak of love to me, then hear you say that you cannot trust my discretion.” “That’s not what I said and you know it.” Geordi raised her chin and kissed her tenderly, quickly, before she could jerk away. “My love for you is no lie, and neither is Evramur, not if you believe. The lie is that Ne’elat is Evramur. Do you see the difference?” “I see that it is a fine plan, to make Ne’elat treat us as equals, when you refuse to treat me with any measure of equality,” Ma’adrys replied, shrugging him off. “Do you even consider doing so? You are no starlord, but you come from worlds as far advanced above Ne’elat as Ne’elat dreams itself above Iskir. If we are barbarians to Ne’elat, how much less wemI must be to you!” She walked away from him, up the slope to where a small patch of white flowers starred the grass.
Geordi sighed and followed, his feet crushing fragrance from the tiny blossoms until he overtook her and laid hold of her arm. “If you won’t listen, how can you understand? Look, Ma’adrys, the members of the Masra’et are on board the Enterprise right now, but I don’t know how much longer they’ll stay there. Bilik and Data have to travel overland to the seat of the Na’amOberyinaless than a day’s journey, but it still takes time. For my plan to succeed, we need to bring the Masra’et and the Na’amOberyin face to face, the sooner the better. Can’t you be satisfied with that