Chapter 7
Final Messages

The courtroom was empty, except for the tribunal.

The members of the tribunal were about to discuss their findings and the composition of a report, when the serene face of the Talosian Keeper appeared on the courtroom display monitor.

Though the Talosian's lips never moved, the Talosian spoke: "Commodore Mendez, Captain Chang, Commander Ramkumar: What you now seem to hear are my thought transmissions. Commodore Mendez, your powers of deduction are most impressive. As you had surmised, Captain Kirk departed from your starbase aboard your missing shuttle, accompanied by an illusion of yourself. Captain Kirk's presence on the starbase thereafter was an illusion. Further, as you also have correctly deduced, the real Captain Kirk did not in fact conspire with Mr. Spock."

"Is Captain Kirk safe?" Mendez demanded to know.

"Yes, Captain Kirk is aboard the Enterprise. Your missing shuttle is aboard the Enterprise as well."

"And Captain Pike?"

"He has been transported to our planet. The officers of the Enterprise, under the review of Mr. Spock, will examine our facilities to be certain that we will be capable of caring for him. No illusions will in any way interfere with their examination."

"Can you explain to me," Mendez pressed, "why this deception was necessary, why it was necessary for all of us to waste our time with these sham legal formalities?"

"Yes. There was concern that Captain Kirk might regain control of the Enterprise before Captain Pike could be brought to our planet, and it was thought that the fiction of a court martial aboard the Enterprise might serve as a diversion. There was further concern that you, Commodore Mendez, might make certain unfortunate decisions that would lead to tragic consequences, and so it was thought that the fiction of a formal board of inquiry would divert you from taking regrettable actions."

"Wait a minute," Mendez said. "Are you saying that, while we made a formal inquiry with Captain Kirk here, a similar formal inquiry was going on aboard the Enterprise, with Mr. Spock on trial?"

"Yes. This arrangement offered a number of benefits for us. What we learned in the proceedings aboard the Enterprise was useful to us, in that it helped us to shape our illusions to make the proceedings at Starbase 11 seem more authentic to you. The converse was true as well, and formal legal proceedings that took place in your courtroom aided us in adding realism to to the illusory trial aboard the Enterprise."

"Unless I miss my guess, one of those sitting on Mr. Spock's tribunal, in addition to Captain Kirk, would have been me, that is, an illusion of me."

"Correct."

"But wouldn't the Enterprise's tribunal need a third command grade officer for the tribunal?" Mendez's eyes widened when he put the pieces together. "Of course! That third member of the tribunal would have to have been Captain Pike himself, wouldn't it? And Captain Pike would certainly recognize whether the images being shown were authentic."

"Correct."

Mendez took a few seconds before speaking again. "I cannot say that I approve of your methods, but I admire your cleverness and initiative."

"We must acknowledge that Mr. Spock was primarily responsible for what you term 'cleverness and initiative.' Mr. Spock understood that if he tried to take the matter through normal channels, his efforts would not have succeeded."

"Yes, he succeeded," Mendez rubbed his eyes. "He got what he wanted, and you got what you wanted. You wanted Captain Pike, and Spock took him and brought him to you. But what happens now? I have a pretty good idea what will happen to Captain Pike, but what—"

"Please pardon the interruption," the Keeper interjected, "but you do not have a 'good idea' what will happen to Captain Pike."

"I don't?" Mendez was stunned.

"As you saw in the images, Captain Pike himself proposed a form of mutual cooperation. Mutual cooperation is what will happen, for mutual benefit. We have pledged that any illusions experienced by Captain Pike shall be pleasant and benevolent."

"And does that pledge include a promise that any illusions experienced by Captain Pike will be experienced voluntarily?"

"Yes, it does. Commodore Mendez, please understand. Captain Pike will not be a prisoner, nor a slave, nor a performing pet, nor an entertainer. To us, he will be a teacher. He will not share information detrimental to Starfleet nor to the Federation, but he will instruct us in ways by which we may recover our own self-sufficiency. He will help us find ways to survive as a race."

"But he will be under your control, your domination."

"As you witnessed in the images, we acknowledged that Humans hate captivity. Captain Pike, in particular, found captivity to be intolerable. And yet, from the time of his accident until now, Captain Pike has been a captive... of his own body. In exchange for sharing with us his knowledge, his experience, and his wisdom, we have welcomed Captain Pike to spend the rest of his life with us, unfettered by his physical body."

Mendez pondered this, then asked, "What happens now, between the Federation and Talos IV? Where do you see us, in relation to one another?"

"We have formed an understanding with Mr. Spock, and we will abide by that understanding."

Mendez tried to keep his voice even as he said: "Mr. Spock has no authority to negotiate any sort of agreement on behalf of the Federation. There have been, and there continue to be, no treaty nor pact nor agreement in principle of any kind between the Federation and Talos IV."

"We understand. To use a term that you yourself have employed from time to time, we have a 'handshake' understanding. We pledge that things shall be as they were before. We will leave each other alone. We have channels in place for contacting you in the event of an emergency affecting Captain Pike's health or safety, but in all other respects, things may proceed as they have before."

"As part of this 'handshake' understanding, can we agree that we will not interfere with you, and that you will not interfere with us? What I want from you is a pledge that you will no longer use your power of illusion against the Federation or anyone under its jurisdiction!"

"Commodore Mendez, the illusions that we have been casting over the past few days have been the most challenging, most intricate, most difficult illusions that we have ever cast. And as you have discovered, our illusions are not perfect. Many of us were concerned that we would not be able to maintain the elaborate fiction, and that our illusions would risk prompting a war. We have no desire to engage in any similar activities in the future. We therefore pledge that we will not use our power of illusion beyond the bounds of our own planet."

Mendez cleared his throat. "Would it be possible for me to speak to Captain Pike?"

"Of course."

The Keeper's image melted away, and was replaced by the smiling visage of Captain Christopher Pike. Pike looked as he did when Mendez had first met him: younger, unscarred, and with darker hair. Pike smiled. "Hello, José."

"Chris," Mendez felt himself choking up, "is it really you?"

"No, what you see is just an image of me. In reality, I am still in my chair, and the Chief Engineer and Chief Medical Officer from the Enterprise are inspecting the medical care facilities here. But my essence, for lack of a better word, is here before you. And in case you're wondering whether I am who I appear to be, let me just say that I hope the Talosians will allow me to re-live that evening that you and I spent on the Marcus Colonies. That would be one illusion that I wouldn't mind experiencing again."

Mendez laughed. Chang and Ramkumar wondered what was funny, but Mendez shot each of them a "don't ask" glare.

Pike continued: "José, let me say for the record that the images you saw were an honest, but exceedingly painful, recounting of my experiences thirteen years ago. Let me also say for the record that I am on Talos IV of my own free will. I want to be here. I also want to express my deep, sincere gratitude to everyone on Starbase 11 for all of their trouble and patience in the past several months. In your own way and in your own time, please thank all of the medical staff for me."

"I will do that. I'm not sure what I can tell them, but I will get your message to them."

"Thanks. And before I forget, would you please summon Chief Humboldt? I would like to thank him personally."

Chang and Ramkumar exchanged puzzled looks, but Mendez answered kindly: "Of course." He touched his comm panel and ordered Chief Humboldt to report to the base's main courtroom on the double.

"Before Chief Humboldt arrives," Mendez went on, "tell me something, Chris: there was a doppelganger of me aboard the Enterprise, wasn't there?"

Pike grinned. "Yes. Your illusory double was pretty convincing, but I have to say that I suspected something was amiss. I was unable to express my suspicions, of course; but your double was much more subdued than I would have expected you to be. I expected you to be more... testy."

At this, Chang, and Ramkumar smiled, while Mendez laughed out loud. "While you were going through the motions of a formal inquiry aboard the Enterprise," Mendez explained, "we were going through the motions of a similar formal inquiry here. Only we had an illusory Captain Kirk, and he was on trial! And do you know what? I had the same feeling about our phony image of Kirk as you had about the phony image of me. Something was clearly amiss. The Jim Kirk I knew was more combative, and had more swagger, than the imposter who seemed to be in our courtroom."

"It may interest you to know, José," Pike smirked, "that Captain Kirk never caught on that your doppelganger was an imposter."

A few moments later, the courtroom doors opened, and the monitor screen turned blank. Chief Humboldt entered the courtroom. Mendez spoke: "Chief, thank you for coming. I must admonish you that what you are about to see is classified. I know that you have a high security clearance, but this is above your clearance level. I'm authorizing you to see it, but you must keep it confidential."

"Aye, Commodore, I— I understand," Humboldt stammered. "What is it that I am to see?"

"Hello, Chief," said a raspy voice.

Everyone faced the monitor screen. There was Pike, his face appearing horribly scarred and discolored, speaking with difficulty and trying to smile.

Humboldt could hardly find the words. "Cap— Captain Pike?" he sputtered.

"Yes, it's me. How are you, Chief?"

"I'm fine, but, sir, what, I mean, what has happened to you?"

"About all I can say that I am the subject of an experimental technique by which I can recover some of my ability to communicate. It is a radical procedure, more advanced than what you and the starbase doctors were trying to do. And it is experimental and very hush-hush, so I cannot say much about it."

"But, sir, I don't understand! What did they do to you?"

"I'm afraid that I will not be able to tell you."

"When will you be able to return to Starbase 11, sir?"

Pike sighed. "Probably never. It pains me to say this, but this will probably be the final time we ever talk. But before we say our final goodbyes, I wanted to thank you for all the time you spent with me after my accident. I truly enjoyed listening to what you had to say about the goings on at the starbase, the news about your family. Your jokes and puns were pretty entertaining, as well. And I really got a kick out of those mystery stories that you read to me. Your visits kept me going. I was never able to tell you how much I looked forward to your visits, or how much I appreciated what you did for me."

Humboldt struggled to get the words out. "Sir: it was my... my honor... and my pleasure."

"One more thing, Chief: I could not say goodbye without asking you something. It is a question that I never had the capability of asking, and it annoyed me no end that I didn't have the capability of asking you."

"What question, sir?"

"In the Mystery of the Silver Arch, how did the doctor know which key would open the lock? I mean, there were dozens of keys, and the doctor didn't have the time to test them all. So how did she know which key was the correct one?"

THE END