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He didn’t smile at the man that would have been too familiar with an underling, but he assumed an air of patience. Wislok watched him descend the stairs, waiting to see if he would use his communicator to alert the centurions. The guard nodded, although he wrinkled his nose at the pungent odors emanating from the cesspool. Could I trouble you to come down and see my permit? I seem to be mired in my work at the moment. He started to climb out of the gutter but pretended to slip. I can’t imagine why the prefect didn’t turn off the alarms. Of course, answered Wislok with the put-upon air of the upper class. The young guard snapped to attention and lowered his disrupter rifle. I was taking water samples to check on a report of liptherum bacteria. I am Wislok, Chief Surgeon to the Proconsul. He stood up, located the guard on a catwalk about fifty meters away, and addressed him authoritatively. They could not ignore a member of the Guard, even the lowly Civil Guard. Wislok muttered an oath under his breath. This is the Civil Guard! announced a stern voice, which echoed importantly in the sewer tunnel. With any luck, thought the Romulan, it would be a maintenance worker, and he would take his readings and leave swiftly. He waited to hear more footsteps, but there was apparently only one person. Wislok motioned for silence and listened to the sounds of footsteps jumping off a ladder and landing on the catwalk with a metallic thud. Without hesitation, he and the boy jumped into a deep drainage gutter and crouched against the grimy wall. His chin jutted into the air, and his angular eyebrows lifted. She comes from the family of Sarek and Spock, and Pardek assures me they are very important. Wislok could only shrug his broad shoulders. If we fail, there is always the option of war. With Pardek’s plan, we can usurp them and all their knowledge of the Federation and science without firing a torpedo. That is the thinking of many, but when you destroy a thing, you never learn its worth. Why don’t we just conquer them? asked the boy. The Vulcans are so literal-minded that they have to see proof that our races are related. This connection with the Vulcans is brilliant-it could be the excuse for a new government, with us as the leaders. He’s always two steps ahead of everyone else, with friends in every corner. Perhaps it was time to tell his son the truth. Vulcan rituals relied upon a combination of mysticism, biology, and collective consciousness that he didn’t pretend to understand. He certainly hoped that was the case, but he had to admit to himself that he was guessing. There’s nothing in the ritual that can harm you." You volunteered for this experiment, and you have to be brave. "On Vulcan, all children go through koon-ut-la at your age, when they meet their future mate. He had explained this all before, but the boy needed reassuring. Not on Romulus, answered Wislok patiently. I mean, no other boys go through this ritual. There are times when subterfuge is called for, and this is one of those times. Why can’t we go in a hovercraft? asked the boy. Work in the sewers was restricted to the plebians. Like most children of the Pretorium, he had experienced only the finer things in life. Hasmek looked wide-eyed at their gloomy surroundings. Wislok stared into the eyes of the seven-year-old Hasmek, a smaller version of himself. His people were master builders, renowned throughout the galaxy, but they were also master destroyers.įather, I want to go back, said a small voice beside him. It was a marvel of engineering that no one ever saw. He gazed at the ceiling of the cavernous tunnel, with its network of baffles and vents for removing harmful gases, then he looked down at the intricate system of tanks, gutters, and reclamation pools. He was intent upon his mission, and his only means of reaching the shuttle-craft field undetected was through this sewer. His long tapered nose did not contract at the odors of the reservoir, which relieved the great city of its waste. Chapter OneĪN OLDER MAN with a saturnine face, sallow complexion, dark hair, and angular eyebrows pulled his hood over his pointed ears and stared down into a dripping cesspool. This story takes place shortly after the events portrayed in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Cover: Star Trek: Mind Meld, by John Vornholt CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP Contents