Chapter 25 (3,542 words)
"What am I going to do, Deanna?" Riker asked her, in confidence. He looked around the purple space of the counsellor's office and pondered deeply.
Deanna thought carefully about that question before finally coming to a decision about what to say and then replied simply, "It is not me who has to make this decision."
Riker sighed and slumped back into the patient's chair. He glanced up at the greyish coloured ceiling, and then down at the lilac floor.
The counsellor frowned periodically before saying to him, "If I were you, Will, I would tell the presidents of both Hypnos and Thanatos."
"But how?" He asked her worriedly as he once again took a quick look around the room in the vain hope that it would somehow manage to calm his nerves.
She shook her head. "Just talk to them."
Riker didn't reply, but just sat staring back at her, in a state of deep thought.
"If they are both aware of this…" she paused and then found what she thought to be the correct word, "Situation, then there is a possibility that some sort of agreement could be met between the two of them."
"Well, all those two are going to agree on is more bloodshed," he commented sceptically.
She smiled at his sarcasm. "I meant a peaceful agreement," she said.
"You're right," he said to her. "You're always right."
Just as she saw that Riker was about to leave her office, Deanna began, speaking in an advisory tone of voice, "Will?"
He turned around and gazed at her. He was obviously worried about what it was that she was going to say next. "Yes, Deanna?" He asked, rather reproachfully.
"Hail the two presidents now," she decided firmly as she studied his facial expression deeply.
Riker nodded dutifully and then replied with a smile, "I will."
...
All of a sudden, a loud chirping sound became apparent to the both of them. Gina didn't have a clue about what it was, but Markeil knew. He walked over to the direction which the sound was originating from and pressed the communications panel. He spoke into it firmly, after quickly gathering his bearings, "I understand, yes." He was just about to close off the transmission, but he was stopped from doing so when he heard a yell coming from the other side of the transmission. "This is vitally important, general!"
Markeil nodded his solemnly and, although actually unaware of it, shuffled his feet a little. He spoke firmly into the comm panel. "I understand. I will be there. Just give me one moment."
"You cannot have 'one moment', your presence is needed now," the authoritative sounding voice said sternly.
Markeil sighed heavily, but tried not to sigh so that his breath was actually directed into the comm panel. If he had, then the consequences would be dire. Markeil did not reply straight away, instead, he looked over to Gina. He saw that she was walking over to him. She stopped and regarded him.
Markeil looked at her and then added, speaking into the comm panel, "I would like for Gina Monroe to accompany me."
The voice was confused. "Who?" It asked curiously.
"My…" he cleared his throat, before adding, "Comfort woman."
The voice on the other side chuckled briefly. "You should have said so in the first place."
For some reason, which she didn't know why, Gina found herself to be smiling briefly at Markeil. She gathered that she was grateful for the fact that he called her by her name and not by the petty and degrading label of comfort woman.
Markel saw her smile at him and felt a whoosh of instant relief fly past him. He smiled too. "We are leaving now," he said into the comm panel.
The man on the other side of the comm panel laughed again. It was not a pleasant laugh. "I did not agree to your bringing her."
"I…" Markeil broke off.
Once again, the voice laughed slyly and decided, "I did not say you couldn't either."
Markeil allowed a slight smile to creep across his face and he waited for the line to go dead, which it very soon dead. He then said, as he looked deeply at Gina, "We are going to see the president."
She nodded gravely and replied, "I know. I recognised his voice."
Markeil smiled at her. "Very clever." It wasn't in the slightest bit sarcastic. He meant every word of it.
"Why do we have to see him?" Gina asked. She still wasn't particularly fond of Markeil, not to mention this president, so she didn't really feel like spending time with both of them right at the moment. Nevertheless, she wanted to go home. She wanted to go back to the Enterprise. She wanted to know that Data and Captain Picard were both alive and well. And so, she deduced, it would be best if she tried to stay on friendly terms with Markeil and Jevail.
It had taken them four hours, but they had finally reached the cabinet office of the president's building. Gina wasn't really sure about what she should call it. It was basically falling apart. There had obviously been quite a few bombs falling on that place. It looked like Dracula's castle. Or, some sort of monastery. Whatever it was and whatever it looked like, she knew she didn't particularly want to spend that much time there.
Gina and Markeil were led down a large, grey walled corridor. The walk seemed to them to be going on forever. Promptly, however, the tall guard who had been walking behind them previously, moved his position so he was now walking at a steady pace with them. They came to a door and the guard entered some sort of code. The door beeped, after a retina scan had been conducted on both Markeil and Gina, and then slid open. There was a desk in the centre and behind it, sat the man who was known as Jevail.
Once Markeil had walked into the room, he planted his fist firmly on his head. Jevail nodded and then cast his gaze over to Gina. He frowned.
Gina saw what Markeil had done to signify his respect, and so, she did the same. Jevail smiled, obviously pleased with her initiative.
Jevail stood up from his desk and walked over to the pair. He stared briefly at Markeil, but then grew bored, apparently. He had seen Markeil thousands of times before, he didn't want to see him again. He then looked over at Gina. "I recognise you," he stated the obvious as he stared her in the face.
She felt a little perturbed by his proximity to her but replied quickly, "I am from the Enterprise."
"I know," he said, sounding a little defensive.
She smiled inside.
"Now," he said as he sat down in his chair and gestured to Gina and Markeil to sit in the two chairs opposite his, on the other side of the desk. They sat down. "To business," he concluded.
Gina looked behind her and saw two armed guards standing with their legs a bit too far apart and their weapons poised to fire at any moment.
"I presume you know why you are here," Jevail spoke as looked at Markeil.
Markeil nodded slowly. "I do, yes."
"But you… young lady, do not," Jevail added as he regarded Gina.
Gina couldn't help but raise a slight eyebrow at hearing that. "I don't, know, but I'm sure I could take a pretty good guess."
Jevail grinned unpleasantly at her. "If you're so sure, then, perhaps you would like to do so?" He prompted her.
She shrugged her shoulders and crossed her slender legs. "No, actually, I have something else to say to you."
"Go on," Jevail said with mock horror.
Markeil sighed quietly and braced himself for what it was that Gina was now going to go ahead and say.
Gina composed herself quickly. "I know you know this war is ridiculous. There can't be a conflict without any good reason. You're people are dying!"
Jevail nodded and the smiled slightly.
"So, you think this is funny?" She demanded furiously.
"You ought to watch your tongue, young lady," he said.
She shook her head and said firmly, "Why should I? You don't own me. You don't govern me. You can't tell me what to do."
"Can't I?"
She knew she shouldn't, but she didn't care. "No, you can't. There is nothing more you can do to me. You have imprisoned my captain. My captain! And, Data. Why would you do anything bad to him, of all people?!"
"I'm… I'm sorry?" Gina said, stumbling with her words.
The president continued, "Why choose Commander Data?" He uttered the word 'commander' with a measurable level of disbelief and almost some sort of disgust.
"Because…" she stopped and then change what she was about to say. "Why does it matter?" She asked.
"Because I am interested," he replied casually. He grinned.
She sighed and said, "Very well." She knew, deep down, that she might as well answer his many questions, regardless of the topic at hand. "Data is kind and caring and… thoughtful. He looked after me when our shuttle crashed. He reassured me."
Jevail signalled her to continue.
So, Gina did just so. "I was injured as a result of the impact and… Data fixed my shoulder."
President Jevail smiled. It wasn't really a pleasant smile but it wasn't really a repellent one, either. "And, this is the only reason why?" He asked, intrigued.
Gina knew exactly what he had meant by that. And, understandably, she didn't really feel entirely comfortable about answering that. So, she didn't.
After the few moments of silence, Jevail broke it and said, "I understand, that was rude of me." Once again, he smiled rather broadly.
Gina changed the subject. "Jevail…" she corrected herself. "President, is there a chance of my people being released?" She asked him.
He saw the desperation on her beautiful face. "All in good time," he replied bluntly.
"No!" She yelled angrily. "I want the truth."
He sighed and formed a steeple out of his fingers as he stretched them on the large table which was in front of him. "As you wish. You can go free," he said.
"I can?" She echoed, unsure whether or not this man was being true to his word.
"You may, yes," Jevail replied. "I never lie."
She rolled her eyes as discreetly as she found to be possible. She looked over at Markeil, who was still sat beside her. He looked sad. In fact, he looked worse than sad. "Markeil?" She asked him.
He allowed his gaze to wander over to her. "What is it, Gina?" He asked, sounding rather weary.
"That's great news, isn't it?" She asked, her voice getting quite high-pitched.
He nodded slowly. "Yes, yes, it's great," he replied half-heartedly.
She frowned and said, "Markeil, I have to leave. I can't stay here."
He nodded again. "I know, I know."
Jevail, on the other side of the desk, had never been a particularly polite individual and he was staying true to his ways. He didn't move from his original position. Instead, he remained where he was, listening intently to what Gina and Markeil were talking about.
"I'm sorry…" Gina began slowly. She didn't know what to say, so she, rather naturally, just apologised. Even though, she had nothing to apologise for.
"No, don't apologise," he said sadly. "You have nothing whatsoever to be sorry for."
"I have to go," Gina said. "I have to help Picard and Data."
He shook his head. "You can't go," he said quietly.
"I have to."
"No."
"Markeil," she said softly. "I need to, and I want to."
"You do not want to stay here with me?" He asked her, holding his gaze at her.
She pressed her hand to her forehead, thinking. "I don't know, Markeil," she finally muttered. "I want to stay with you, but I also want to return to my ship."
"Please, don't."
Gina couldn't think of anything else to say. So, she remained silent.
He put his hand on her cheek and out of the corner of her eye, Gina could see that Jevail was rather enjoying this little spectacle. "It's no use, Markeil. I can't stay with you," Gina said.
"Why?" He asked her, sounding desperate.
"I would like to, Markeil. I would. But, I need to help Data. I need to help my captain."
Markeil opened his mouth, as if he were about to say something. However, he couldn't seem to think of anything to say, so he remained quiet.
Just at that very moment, the door to the President's office, in which they were, slid open. Jevail was outraged by this apparent act of rudeness and insolence and so, he charged over to the man who had opened the door and shouted at him angrily, "What on earth do you think you are doing? Have some courtesy!"
The many blinked a few times and then managed to reply, "President, Jevail, I am your new personal assistant."
"So?" Jevail asked him impatiently.
"I was told to tell you that a Federation vessel has been attempting to make contact with our strategic command," the assistant said blandly.
Jevail's brow wrinkled. He was confused. "What do they want now?" He questioned him, sounding very irritated and annoyed.
The assistant replied simply, "They have made an urgent discovery and wish to make you aware of it. They have already told the President of Thanatos."
"Myklos," Jevail muttered that name bitterly and with much contempt. "
The young assistant ignored that remark and, instead, continued with what it was that he was saying, "I believe it is very urgent."
"I'll be the judge of that," Jevail said, sounding rather bitter as he did so.
The assistant then said quietly, "They wish to contact you now."
"Now?" Jevail echoed, annoyed with what he had just learnt.
The man nodded. "Yes. That is what they say."
Jevail sighed and then said, "Very well. Patch them through." He glared at the assistant, who quickly complied with his order.
After waiting a few moments, the large computer monitor which was positioned atop the desk of the president, flickered on. The voice was unmistakeable, but the image was still in the process of loading. However, after a short while, the image began to appear and Jevail's suspicions were quickly confirmed when he saw Commander Riker standing before him on the screen.
Riker's jaw was open so wide that it could have been touching the floor. He was staring at Gina Monroe. "Ensign Monroe!" He yelled ecstatically.
Gina stood up and walked over to the computer screen. "Commander!" She said gleefully.
"Ensign," Riker said, gathering his thoughts, "Are you well?"
She nodded and smiled. "I am, yes. But, I don't know where the captain or Dara are." She looked down at the floor, glumly.
"They're here," Riker said softly.
"What?!" She asked, confused deeply. "How?"
Jevail stepped in and replied to her simply, "I had them transported back to your ship."
She was too stunned to say any more.
Satisfied that Gina was all right, Riker began slowly and steadily, "President Jevail, we have some extremely important information to tell you."
Jevail scoffed. "I doubt that," he said rudely.
"Well, you shouldn't," Riker said bluntly. "President Myklos is already aware of what we are about to tell you."
Jevail sighed and then nodded, signalling for Riker to continue.
On the screen, Riker gestured to Doctor Beverly Crusher. She walked forward and then began to explain the findings, "I have conducted numerous blood tests on a Hypnite ad Thanatosian male and they both seem to…" she quietened a bit until she actually grew silent. Then, she noticed Riker looking at her oddly, so she continued, adding, "Have the same DNA."
Jevail was stunned, as was everyone else in the room. The guards, Gina, and Markeil. They could all not believe what it was that they were hearing. Finally, Jevail thought of something to say in response and he said slowly, unsure of himself for the first time ever in his life, "How is that possible?"
"I think that your two species must have once been one," Beverly Crusher said quietly. "That is what the Hypnite and the Thanatosian under our care have revealed to us. They say that a group of Hypnites left your planet and settled on Thanatos."
"But… that must have been years ago!" The assistant blurted out, forgetting his place.
Jevail was, understandably, too wrapped up in this whole incident to even discipline the young man.
"It was," Beverly Crusher admitted. "Tens of thousands of years ago," she replied sounding rather matter-of-fact with it.
"What… what now?" Jevail managed to ask.
Riker stepped forward and signalled to Beverly Crusher that he would reply this time. "Your two people, the Hypnites and the Thanatosians, I mean, will continue the peace conference," he said, sounding quite hopeful with that prospect.
"Since when do I take orders from you?" Jevail uttered stubbornly.
Riker managed to smile slightly. "You don't. However, since your two planets are now under Federation influence, I suggest that you listen."
Jevail sighed heavily and loudly. He hung up and said to Markeil, "Did you have any idea—"
Markeil cut him off promptly, saying, "No, of course I didn't."
Gina was stunned. However, she also realised that she was somehow thankful. "Markeil, don't you understand? This gives you a chance to form an alliance with the people Thanatos? This war can finally end!" Her voice, as she spoke these words, was, understandably, quite full of glee. She grinned. She forgot about what it would do to Markeil.
Markeil nodded slowly. He was still trying to absorb all of this life-changing information. "I presume so," he said sadly. He tried to let his emotions not show through.
Jevail frowned heavily, making deep creases in his forehead. He looked over at Markeil.