Tooth and Claw - Doranna Durgin [26]
La Forge came to his rescue. “The dampers are intrinsically tied to the shields themselves. There’s no way to shut them down without removing the entire protective dome around the preserve. Not only could the poachers get in—and they’re always lurking just out of orbit, as I understand it—but the Legacy animals could get out.” He glanced at a miniature holo of the same cartiga he’d seen during the reception, rested his finger on the base. “I don’t know about you, Worf, but I can sure understand why they don’t want these fellows roaming among their families.”
“I see,” Worf said slowly. “With regret, I agree.”
“Then what?” The short fur on Kugen’s neck and arms had risen, subtly, until all of a sudden it was standing nearly on end. His lips peeled back from his teeth, revealing an imposing set of double canines, the gums flushed deeply purple with his rage. Full daleura display, La Forge thought suddenly, flashing on his mission prep and glad to be at the end of the table. Chafar, who was opposite the Tsoran, inched sideways and backward. Worf, who was next to him … Well, Worf ignored him.
“It sounds like you all plan to do nothing!” Harder than ever to understand with his lips rigidly withdrawn, Kugen worked up a good bit of foamed spittle to go along with his exposed teeth. “You’ve talked yourselves into impotency! Do you really value his life so little? Do you value your own associations with my people so little? If you think we’re interested in trading with a society of such pitiful regard, prepare yourselves to learn otherwise!”
“Hey, now, hold on there,” La Forge said, impressed if not immediately alarmed. “We’re not out of options yet. And we don’t abandon our people when they’re in trouble. Just because it’s not easy doesn’t mean we can’t do it.”
“You see, this is why we wanted a Federation engineer here for our force field problem,” Yenan said. “We’ve heard that you’re like sculper on the trail of problems such as these.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” La Forge said, while Kugen, his display ignored, slowly subsided—into, as far as La Forge could tell, intense embarrassment. No one had run screaming, after all.
“What did you have in mind?” Worf asked.
“We’ve got what we need—the shuttle. As long as we make sure we protect it from any field surges.”
“And do you know how to do that?” Zefan asked.
“Not yet,” La Forge said. “But I’ve got some ideas….”
Picard appended his initials to yet another report and called up the next, a second mug of tea by his hand; the other hand came to rest at the back of his neck, rubbing gently and ruefully.
Deanna Troi had not “been right back.” She had, in fact, contacted him shortly after her departure to inform him that she didn’t know how long it would take to get the Tso
rans to his ready room, and that it would not help matters any for him to reappear at the reception—that it would, in fact, only cast a spotlight on the current situation.
Which was that Atann, embarrassed by Picard’s sudden departure, was taking him at his very word. “/’// look forward to resuming our conversation at your earliest possible convenience,” Picard had said, and Atann had not yet found it convenient.
“Perhaps if we explained the situation,” Picard suggested over the comm link, unable to keep the frustration from his voice.
“I don’t advise it,” she said, regret clear in hers. “I think it best to let him maintain control, Captain—at least for a while. All we can do is wait. I don’t honestly think it will take long. He just needs to make the point.”
“Very well, then,” Picard had said, waiting for Troi to sign off before releasing the waiting sigh. After a moment of staring at the padd an ensign had left on his desk, he decided perhaps Atann had done him a favor. The reports did have to be read, after all… and until Geordi got back to him, there was very little to be done.
Except drop everything and take the Enterprise to Fandre.
With an entire race of people waiting for him to talk Atann