Strike Zone Part 18

Aneel looked at her appreciatively. Up, and then down. Then he laughed roughly.

"You remind me of a Klingon woman I raped once."

Oh s.h.i.t, thought Riker.

Tron lunged forward, even as Riker threw himself against the Klingon to hold him back. "You lie!"

"Tron, stay back!" snapped Kobry.

"You're right, I'm lying!" Aneel shouted. "Actually, it was more than once! And by the end, she was begging for more! She loved it! She-"

That did it.

Tron hurled Riker aside as if he were a poker chip, slamming the first officer against the wall, and lunged at Aneel. Picard summoned security. Kobry shouted, trying to make himself heard. And the Kreel and Klingons slammed in to each other, forming one giant ma.s.s of flying fists.

From nowhere, it seemed, the other Klingons in the honor guard showed up and set to against the Kreel. The only thing that prevented the struggle from becoming a bloodbath was that they were all crammed together in the corridor, with no room to maneuver. Whatever weapons the Klingons might have been packing remained unpulled because there wasn't s.p.a.ce to do so much as pull a knife from a boot "Stop it! That's an order!" shouted Picard, and then he was shoved aside and almost trampled by frantic civilians who didn't really see him but were intent only on getting out of there. Gava fell back, and Deanna Troi helped pull her away.

One of the Kreel broke from the crowd, and saw the Betazoid counselor still holding the disruptors Riker had given her. He lunged for her, snarling. Gava stepped between them, and without hesitation brought her foot up in to the Kreel's crotch. He went down, gagging.

Then Gava shrieked, "Kobry!"- the diminutive Klingon had just gone down in the middle of the crowd.

Riker pulled himself up and hauled Picard away from the scene. Then he said tersely, "Captain, permission to-"

"Yes," agreed Picard.

Riker pulled out his phaser and fired blind, waist high, into the middle of the crowd.

Klingons and Kreel went down in a heap, collapsing on one another. Within moments, the entire struggling mob had lapsed into unconsciousness.

There was silence, and then a low moan from the midst of the pile.

"Kobry," said Picard, and immediately he and Riker went over to the pile, shoving insensate bodies aside to get to the Klingon amba.s.sador.

Slowly, Kobry emerged, hauled out by the captain and first officer. Having been below the level of the beam, Kobry hadn't been hit. But all the bodies had fallen on top of him.

At that moment a security squad, Worf in the lead, came running up. He put up a hand, and the squad skidded to a halt.

Gava, from nearby, said, "You missed it."

Kobry was shaking his head. "I suppose it's possible that things could have gotten off to a worse start, but I'm not really sure how."

Gava knelt down next to her father. "This isn't going to work."

And Picard said, "It is our duty to make it work, as much as we may dislike the position into which we've been put."

"The captain is absolutely right, Gava," said Kobry. "Our respective governments are counting on us to stave off a full-scale war. There is a cease fire in effect for as long as this mission seems to have a possibility of succeeding. But if the twenty of us cannot live with each other for the time it takes to get to DQN 1196, how can we possibly hope that our two peoples can coexist?"

"Good question," said Worf.

Kobry stood and brushed himself off. "Captain, I need to sit and talk with the Kreel amba.s.sador alone."

Picard nodded. "Lieutenant Worf," he said briskly, "have the Klingons brought to holding facilities on Deck 2, block A. Have the Kreel brought to Deck 18, block Z detention facilities."

"That's on opposite sides of the saucer section," said Worf.

"Precisely. They're going to be as far away from each other as is possible until we get things worked out."

"When will that be?" Gava murmured to Worf.

"When h.e.l.l freezes over," he replied, much too quietly for Picard to hear.

Or so he a.s.sumed. But Picard turned and said, "Hopefully, Lieutenant, it will be a bit sooner than that."

Chapter Fourteen.

JAAN WAS WALKING down the hallway, on his way to Dr. Pulaski for further treatment, and he slowed down as he noticed the change that seemed to have occurred in the corridors.

Usually, people had always been quick to greet him with a wave or a smile-the women, in particular-and he hadn't even needed to use the Knack for that. People were just attracted to him. He liked that, thrived on it.

But now it appeared to him that everyone was giving him a wide berth. Or those that were near him gave him sympathetic looks, or asked solicitously, "How are you?" And all of them had sorrowful faces pasted on them like cheap jewelry.

They felt sorry for him. Him! It was humiliating. He didn't want pity or sorrow. He wanted to continue his work. He wanted to continue to live. (That wasn't so blasted much, was it?) And slowly he started to resent the other people on the Enterprise-resent them for their att.i.tude, for their d.a.m.nable pity, and for their lives. The lives they would continue to have, and he would not.

At that moment Bobbi Chase approached him, looking concerned.

It irritated him. He knew what she was going to say. She was going to utter meaningless words about how she hoped he was feeling okay, and if there was anything she could do he should let her know, and so on.

If he hadn't been ill before, certainly this type of treatment would have put him over the edge.

Although Bobbi was hardly the major offender, he decided to let her have it. She would start in with all the sympathy nonsense, and he'd rip into her sanctimonious prattling. And then, when he'd reduced her to tears, well ... maybe he might suggest other things to her.

Yes. Yes, that would certainly be amusing ...

After all, an elf should never pa.s.s up an opportunity.

She walked up to him and said, "Jaan, I need to talk to you about something."

He leaned against a wall and forced a smile. "What's the problem?"

"It's Wesley."

He stared at her blankly for a moment. "Wesley?"

"Yeah. You know, I really thought he liked me, and I know I liked him, but he's become so obsessive lately. It's a little scary, you know?"

"Wesley is who you're concerned about?" He was stung. "What about me?"

She looked down for a moment and said, "I'm ... concerned about you, Jaan. You know that. But ... " She looked up into his eyes. "You seemed to me to be the kind who doesn't want a lot of pity. So I wasn't going to do it."

She was right, of course. But to hear it stated like that, so matter-of-factly ... it angered him more than he would have thought possible.

He was starting to sweat as he snapped, "Oh, is that what you think? Well you don't know anything. Not a single thing!"

"But-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! Just ... leave me alone! Go be with your precious Wesley!"

Now others were staring at him and he couldn't stand it, so he shoved past Bobbi and rushed blindly forward ...

And slammed into Aneel.

The security guard escorting Aneel had been standing just behind the Kreel, so he was out of position to see Jaan. Aneel paid little heed to the sudden obstacle in his path. With a swing of his powerful arm he brushed Jaan aside, sending him skidding across the floor in the opposite direction.

Jaan pulled himself up and felt his legs beginning to give out. I will not pa.s.s out, he thought furiously and staggered toward the turbolift that would bring him to sickbay.

Aneel watched him go. "Wasn't that an elf?"

"Yes," said the security guard. "Come on."

"What's the matter with him?"

And Bobbi, hearing this, and still confused and embarra.s.sed over what had happened, snapped, "What's the matter with him? He's dying, okay? He's dying of the Rot and it's unfair!"

"So where is it stated that life is fair?" replied Aneel, but he wasn't really thinking about his reply. He was dwelling on what had been said.

He knew elves. He knew them quite well. He'd captured a few sometime back and had great fun playing with them, until he had released them-s...o...b..ring, burbling wrecks. They were attractive and had a certain degree of grace, but as a whole they were not the st.u.r.diest of races, physically or mentally. Which was curious, considering what they were capable of doing with their minds.

All of which set Aneel on an intriguing path of thought.

"When do we get to the conference room?" he asked.

"In a while," said the security guard. "I've been given an order, though, to make another stop with you first."

Since it was supposed to be a diplomatic meeting, personnel were kept to a minimum. Picard was there, of course, as was Troi. He would have liked to have had Riker there as well, but he wanted his second-in-command on the bridge during this rather tense time.

Also present were Kobry and Gava. The rest of the Klingons and the Kreel, except for the shortly-to-arrive Aneel, were securely in holding facilities.

"Do you think you'll be able to accomplish anything, Kobry-Honorable Kobry?" corrected Picard.

Kobry made a dismissive wave. "Please feel free to ignore the 'Honorable' aspect. It takes too long to say. In answer to your question ... I know I'll be able to."

"How?"

"I have to know." The Klingon smiled wanly. "If I only thought so, then I wouldn't be able to. I have to know it." He glanced at the chronometer. "I think that Aneel should be just about finished with his detour."

"Yes, I was curious about that little tactic," said Picard. "Is that a common maneuver in diplomacy?"

"More common than you would imagine."

As if on cue the doors hissed open and Aneel entered, still escorted by the guard.

The Kreel was in a very good mood.

"Sit down, Amba.s.sador," said Picard, and Aneel did so, seating himself across the table from Kobry. He thudded into the chair and looked cheerily across the table. "Tell me, sir," continued Picard, "how did you like the Ten-Forward Room?"

Aneel smiled that toothy smile and nodded his head. "That," he said in a deep voice, "is hospitality almost on par with what we Kreel are capable of providing."

"I take that as high praise," said Picard. "Now ... Amba.s.sador ... the Honorable Kobry has requested this meeting. I myself would just as soon have the lot of you off my ship, but we all have to live with the requests of our respective governments. The Honorable Kobry feels that he has a solution to all of this."

Aneel turned and stared slightly bleary-eyed at Kobry. Aneel was not drunk by any means, but he was certainly relaxed. Still, more than enough of the famed Kreel bluntness remained in him. "You seriously expect me to deal with you?"

"Yes," said Kobry evenly.

Picard glanced over at Troi, clearly trying to get a silent a.s.sessment from her as to how matters were likely to go. She shrugged her shoulders. It was a toss-up.

"It's ridiculous," said the Kreel soldier-turned-amba.s.sador. "I could step on you. How is it that you are supposed to be the Klingon mediator?"

Kobry smiled. "You know, most of my people used to be very much like you. They did not take me seriously, either."

"Oh really?" said Aneel, feigning surprise.

"Really," affirmed Kobry. "But you see ... that is how I managed to survive in the Klingon Empire. A hierarchy noted for promotion through back-stabbing, a.s.sa.s.sination and double-dealing. I left the Empire for a while, was educated within the Federation. Came back at a time when my people were wracked by internecine warfare.

"I began to gather followers, people who were influenced by my words rather than my appearance. Those above me-they paid me no mind. They never took any of my activities seriously. They merely continued as they had been, plotting against each other and planning, always planning. They were so good at plotting and planning that they managed to kill each other off. No one noticed that those above me were dropping, one after the other, and that I was still there. And when the Emperor looked around, he suddenly discovered that all his advisors were gone. Undone by each other.

"And here was Kobry"- and he shook his head in amus.e.m.e.nt at the memory-"whose followers had now swollen vastly in numbers. Kobry, who preached moderation, who preached alliances with the Federation rather than the Romulans. We had to grow, you see. We had to grow up, and go forward as a people. We could not remain savages forever. Aggressive, hard, yes. That is bred into us. It makes us strong. But strength has to be tempered with intelligence, with knowing when to fight, and when to talk."

Aneel made a dismissive wave. "The Kreel always know when to fight. It's when anyone else challenges us."

"But it has to stop," said Kobry. "You have to move forward. And we have to help."

"You're only interested in helping because we now possess weapons that pose a threat."

"There is that," admitted Kobry. "But it merely alerted us to a situation that should have been rectified ages ago."

"Rectified through extermination is what you're saying."

Kobry leaned back, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair. "Once, that would have been the case. Once-before we realized the self-destructive nature of that course. No longer, though. But that is why this journey to DQN 1196 is so important. That is why ... Captain, how long until arrival there?"

"At Warp 6, about five days," said Picard. "I only wish, for your sakes, that it could be sooner."

"No," said Kobry. "No, this is probably better. Amba.s.sador Aneel, the journey to DQN 1196 is important for two reasons." He ticked them off on his fingers. "First, it was necessary to bring two groups of our people together for a sustained period of time to open a dialogue. To prove that we can coexist. Granted we have not gotten off to a good start, but that is no reason to a.s.sume that it's hopeless. The second reason is that the heart of our dispute is that planet. The weapons on it are powerful beyond comprehension. Your scientists, no slight intended, are out of their depth when it comes to examining them. If the Kreel are given free access to them, you know that, at best, it will mean all-out war. At worst, it will mean the extermination of both our races."