you’d prefer not to discuss, but am I right in thinking that your family was exiled to Remus because of its involvement in the Jolan Movement?”
Virron squared his shoulders like a soldier. “To not believe in war was considered a crime. One night, they came for us. The Tal Shiar. We were rounded up. Some families simply ceased to exist. Some were torn apart, as was ours. Your wife’s parents were sent to Chal to be experimented upon. My side of the family was banished to Remus. And generations later, here we remain.”
Kirk saw how closely the three Romulans watched him now, and he knew the final question he must ask. At the same time, he was afraid because he knew what the answer would be.
“Virron, I am learning a great deal from this discussion, but I feel the purpose of your invitation to me has not yet been mentioned. What is your interest in Joseph?”
All three Romulans sighed in relief, as if Kirk had finally opened the door to a subject they had been forbidden to mention first.
“He achieved the dream of our people,” Virron said.
“T’Kol T’Lan—your Joseph,” Sen added, “is of Remus, yet has a life beyond the rock.”
“The legends of the Old Ways speak of him,” murmured Nran. “From the time of the Clans, he has been called He Who Returns.”
Kirk felt the bristling of hairs on the back of his neck.
Sen’s expression was blissful. “The Reman who found freedom, and brings it as a gift to all.”
Kirk gripped the arms of his chair to keep his hands from trembling.
“Your son has come to end our suffering and unite the Clans,” Virron said with conviction. “He is our liberator, Kirk. Our savior.
“Your son is our new Shinzon.”
12
S.S. CALYPSO, STARDATE 57485.9
Had he been younger, Picard knew he would like nothing more than to put his fist through a bulkhead of his cramped cabin.
All of Starfleet’s careful plans, all of Admiral Janeway’s precise implementation…none of it meant anything now.
Kirk wanted out of the mission.
And the hell of it was that Picard couldn’t fault the man.
“They think Joseph is their savior,” Kirk raged. He was the sole person standing in Picard’s cabin. Doctor Crusher sat on the desk stool. Picard and La Forge sat on the bunk. “The Remans have legends about one of their own kind, born free, away from Remus, someday returning to end their suffering and unite their clans.”
Picard saw that Crusher and La Forge had nothing to say. They clearly understood Kirk’s dilemma and decision, and Picard suspected they felt they could no more offer a valid counterargument than he could.
But still, he was their captain, the ostensible leader of this mission, despite the invisible presence of Janeway’s personal representative, the Emergency Medical Hologram.
So Picard tried to defuse Kirk and bring him back onside. “Jim, surely they understand that Joseph’s not Reman, so how can they—”
“The Remans have a very inclusive outlook on those who share their suffering. Shinzon—” Kirk looked briefly apologetic for raising the name of Picard’s clone. “—the first Shinzon, was human. But the moment he was condemned to Remus, even he became Reman in their eyes. Virron told me there are political prisoners on Remus from dozens of species. But they are all considered Remans, just as the Romulan outcasts are.”
For the moment, Picard put aside any discussion of Reman identity, and focused instead on the chilling statement Kirk had just made. “What do you mean by ‘the first Shinzon?’ “
Kirk appeared to realize his mistake at once. “Shinzon is a name title. ‘Liberator.’ He was served by ‘Viceroy,’ another name title. Just as I was escorted by ‘Facilitator.’ It seems the public names Remans go by are all related to their function. They have personal names, but those are only shared among equals. At least, I think that’s how it works.”
Kirk looked in appeal to Picard. “Sorry, Jean-Luc, I didn’t mean to suggest there’s another clone of you on Remus.”
Picard allowed himself a moment of relief, then tried once more to save the mission. “Jim, is there anything—anything—that you can imagine doing that would enable you to continue our primary mission to Romulus, without endangering Joseph?”
Kirk held his arms open in helplessness. “Don’t you think I’ve tried to think of a way? Spock is dead, Jean- Luc. Murdered. Maybe I do have a chance here to discover who’s responsible, and why. But now…I have to balance justice for Spock against the safety of my child. How can I do that?”
La Forge leaned forward so Picard sat back, fervently hoping his engineer had seen some opening that had escaped the rest of them. “Captain Kirk,” La Forge asked, “what do you think the Remans’ next move will be?”
“What they’ve proposed is that I return to Virron’s segment headquarters tomorrow, with Joseph. There’s a ceremony they’d like to perform.”
“What kind of ceremony?” Crusher asked.
“A…christening, I suppose. They want to give him his formal, family names. And his function name, as a Reman.”
Picard frowned because he knew what that name would be. Shinzon.
“Jean-Luc,” Kirk said earnestly, “I know the moment Joseph sets foot on Remus, I’ve lost him. They will not let me take him back.”
There was only one thing Picard could say to that, and he said it. “Then we will not let Joseph set foot on Remus.”
Kirk took a deep breath, as if he had been expecting more of a confrontation. “Thank you. Then the sooner we break orbit, the—”
“We’re not leaving,” Picard said. “We have to get to Romulus. We have to investigate Spock’s assassination.”
Kirk regarded him in astonishment. “Jean-Luc…you’ve heard the stories, about the kind of fighters Remans are, the savagery. If we stay in this system, this ship can’t outfight them. Our only chance is to outrun them.”
“Exactly,” Picard said. He knew as well as Kirk did that the Remans had warbirds to guard their orbital processing platforms, and those ships were staffed by Reman soldiers who served in the Dominion War. “We can outrun them to Romulus.”
Kirk’s shoulders squared for battle and Picard’s instincts told him why. For too long, Kirk had been a starship captain, a man whose every word was respected, whose every order was immediately carried out. He was unused to taking part in arguments he could not win simply by claiming command authority.
“We don’t have clearance for Romulus,” Kirk said angrily. “And given the relationship between these two worlds, how do you think the Romulan government is going to respond when they find out we’re carrying the Shinzon who’s someday supposed to free the Reman slaves?”
Picard nodded, no argument possible. “You’re right. We’re a civilian ship. They’d blow us out of space. Worry about the diplomatic repercussions later.” He glanced at La Forge beside him, Crusher at the other end of the small cabin, could see that both of them were silently urging him to break Janeway’s orders and bring Kirk into the full mission.
Picard hesitated, weighing his options.
That hesitation did not go unnoticed.
“What’s going on, Jean-Luc?”
Picard stood to face his friend. “Jim, I respect you too much to say ‘Nothing.’ Or ‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Obviously, there are other considerations at work here.”
The cold fury that leapt into Kirk’s eyes surprised Picard.
