The Fall of Iconia

Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

Once the battlestars and Colorado Springs were clear of the Jord system, they did a scan. Satisfied that there were no Cylons or Borg approaching, they jumped a few lightyears. The wormhole drive on Colorado Springs, while not completely analogous to a Colonial jump drive, had a very similar effect. When the city emerged from the wormhole, it found itself in interstellar space with the two battlestars beside it. In rapid succession, the entourage accompanying the city emerged from wormholes, then split up and scouted their location. They would remain sublight for a day, before jumping again.

Starfleet Command...

Jim Kirk was seated at his desk, going over paperwork. He was tempted to use his powers to finish it, but he realized that that would be cheating. He picked up the next folder and looked at its title: New Uses for Solid Waste in Long Distance Space Flight. He read the title a second time and grimly shook his head.

When he opened the folder, he saw that it was a doctoral thesis. Obviously, someone had thought it might be useful for Starfleet, although why, eluded Kirk. All waste matter on board a starship was converted to energy for later use in the replication system.

He gritted his teeth and opened the thesis. The first quarter of the report was dedicated to the history of waste matter disposition in spaceflight. He finished the second page, then closed the book and set it on his desk. A moment later, he waved his hand and the piles of paperwork on his desk flashed to their proper receptacles, and the knowledge from them was in his mind. If it was cheating, so be it. He'd cheated before, and no doubt, would do it again.

A chime sounded in his office. It sounded like the door chime, but it was not localized to the speakers. It seemed to emanate from the air around him. "Come in," he said.

Jean Luc and Beverly Picard flashed into the room, seated on the sofa against one wall.

"Welcome back!" he told them, coming around his desk to shake their hands. He had time to chat - it wasn't as if he had any work to do.

As he touched their hands, the grief from what they had just witnessed flowed into his mind. He sat down and frowned. "I'm sorry for what you just went through," he said sincerely.

"Overall," Beverly told him, "the experience was wonderful. It was a beautiful world, and an ideal place to raise Meribor and Batai. But at the end..."

Kirk nodded, knowingly. "You feel that allowing them to die goes against your hippocratic oath." It was a statement, not a question, and she confirmed it by nodding. "Sometimes," Kirk continued, "there is nothing you can do to save a life. The best you can do in such a situation, is to allow the patient to die with dignity."

"I don't see much dignity in an entire civilization being vaporized, Commander."

"The people of Kataan knew what was coming, and they accepted it. There was no looting, or even widespread panic. In the towns governed by Daniel, there were no suicides or murders on that last day." He let what he had just said sink in, then finished. "They died with their dignity intact, Beverly."

She nodded, but couldn't form any words.

Kirk considered for a moment. He knew that the best thing for a human would be to get their mind on something else. A Q, however, had all the time in the world to work things out. "Tell you what. Why don't you two take a break for a bit. Take all the time you need, and when you're done, report tomorrow to Deep Space Nine to resume your command of that sector."

Picard nodded his head and managed a smile. "Thank you, Commander."

The two flashed out of his office, and he sat down behind his desk again. He didn't know how long they would take, maybe years, but he knew that tomorrow, they would be at Deep Space Nine, doing their jobs with consummate skill.