Keru stood, holding his hand out to help the older woman up. She put her arm around his waist lovingly, and the two exited the room. Keru looked back once, catching Picard’s eye, before they were out of sight.
He’s going to leave theEnterprise, Picard thought. Maybe not right away, but hewill leave.Picard couldn’t say he blamed Keru for making that decision.
And then he was alone, with Rhyst.
Rhyst sniffed, and turned toward Picard. “Can you tell me what goodcame from Sean joining Starfleet?” He held up his hand, motioning Picard to be quiet for a moment. “I don’t mean in the abstract. Starfleet has hundreds of thousands of cadets joining its ranks each year, thousands of officers, hundreds of captains. My son sacrificed his lifefor that organization. Why him?What did it accomplish?”
Picard took no offense at the older man’s pointed questions. They were the same imponderables with which he himself had to grapple each and every time he lost a member of his crew.
“Your son was notjust one of a thousand officers to me, sir. He was a valued member of my crew, and one whom I trusted with my life. And he accomplished some truly great things.”
Picard hesitated for a moment. He knew he would have to edit any reference to Section 31 from the story he was about to tell. But Hawk’s father deserved to hear about his son’s finest hour: the mission in the Chiaros system.
“About six months ago, your son went above and beyond the call of duty to defend his ship, its crew, and his own principles. And he did it without a moment’s hesitation or doubt . . .”
About the Authors
Andy Mangels is the author of the best‑selling book Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Characters,as well as Beyond Mulder & Scully: The Mysterious Characters of The X‑Filesand From Scream to Dawson’s Creek: The Phenomenal Career of Kevin Williamson.Mangels has written for The Hollywood Reporter, The Advocate, Just Out, Cinescape, Gauntlet, SFX, Sci‑Fi Universe, Outweek, Frontiers, Portland Mercury, Comics Buyer’s Guide,and scores of other entertainment and lifestyle magazines. He has also written licensed material based on properties from Lucasfilm, Paramount, New Line Cinema, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Microsoft, Abrams‑Gentile, and Platinum Studios. His comic‑book work has been seen from DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, Wildstorm, Image, Innovation, WaRP Graphics, Topps, and others, and he was the editor of the award‑winning Gay Comicsanthology for eight years. In what little spare time he has, he likes to country dance and collect uniforms.
Michael A. Martin’s short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.He was the regular co‑writer (with Andy Mangels) of Marvel Comics’ monthly Star Trek: Deep Space Ninecomic‑book series, and co‑wrote other Star Trekstories for Marvel and Wildstorm. From 1998 through 2000, Martin was one of the principal writers for Atlas Editions’ Star Trek Universesubscription card series. Martin has also written for the British Star Trekmonthly magazine, Grolier Books, and Platinum Studios. Rogueis the first Star Treknovel to bear his name. When not hunkered over a keyboard in his basement writing office, he reads voraciously, watches documentaries, and performs folk ballads for the amusement of his two‑year‑old son, James; Martin lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, their aforementioned son, and too many computers.