The Adventures of Jean-Luc Picard
The Illogical Vulcan
by Jasjit Singh
(jasjit@uranium.dashmail.net)

The Illogical Vulcan

Commander Jean-Luc Picard stepped into the transporter room of the USS Stargazer seconds before he was due to arrive. The transporter chief gave him the briefest of glances, and then returned to his work. Captain Walker Keel, who stood in anticipation, smiled when he saw Picard. "Jean-Luc," he said, "I believe our new officer is ready for transport from the surface."

"From what you've told me, and from reading his file, he appears to have been an exemplary Starfleet Officer," replied Picard, taking his position next to Keel. "I have no doubt that he will make a fine addition to the crew of the Stargazer."

Keel nodded in agreement. "Not only that, but he is a good friend as well," he added, and then, turning to the transporter chief, "Chief, do we have the coordinates?"

"Aye sir," replied the chief.

"Then, by all means, energize."

The transporter pads shimmered with an unearthly iridescent light, and then the forms of two humans began to appear. At first only an outline was discernable, but within seconds the outline was filled by living, breathing human beings, a man and a woman.

Keel stepped forward and greeted the man warmly. "Jack," he said, "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you sir," replied the man, beaming. He was wearing regulation Starfleet uniform. The woman accompanying him was dressed in civilian clothing. She greeted Keel affectionately.

"I'd like to you meet my First Officer, Commander Jean-Luc Picard," said Keel, by way of introduction. "Jean-Luc, this is Lieutenant Jack Crusher, and his wife, Beverly Crusher."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," said Picard cordially.

Picard was taking Jack and Beverly Crusher to their assigned quarters when Beverly asked him about the expected visit by the eminent Vulcan medical scientist, Dr. Sorel.

"Ah, yes, we are scheduled to rendez-vous with a Vulcan ship which will be transporting Dr. Sorel to us," said Picard in reply to Beverly's query.

"Oh, will I have a chance to meet him while he's aboard?" asked Beverly eagerly.

"Well, once he has finished his informal lecture and seminar session, I don't see why not," said Picard.

"Oh, wonderful!" Beverly clapped her hands in delight. "It'll be such an honor to meet the famous Dr. Sorel. I've read all his papers. He is quite a wonder in the medical science field."

"You must forgive my wife, Commander," said Jack, smiling somehwat ruefully. "She can get rather excited at times."

"Oh, think nothing of it. We all have our passions, Lieutenant, and mine just so happens to be archaeology. I can imagine I'd be quite excited if an eminent Archaeologist was to come aboard and give a speech on fourteenth century Ming Dynasty vases. Ah, here we are."

They had arrived at the designated quarters. Picard showed them in, and then returned to the bridge.

It was three days later when the Vulcan ship came into sensor range, and then eventually into transporter range. Keel and Picard were on the bridge. T'Pau, looking up from her station, reported that the Vulcan ship was hailing them.

"Open a channel," said Keel, rising from his chair. The serene face of a Vulcan Captain filled the viewscreen.

"Captain Suhak," he introduced himself, inclining his head slightly, "of the Vulcan Science vessel, Dehnor."

"Captain Walker Keel," replied Keel, "of the Federation expeditionary ship, Stargazer."

"We are honored to meet with the representatives of the Federation. Dr. Sorel is aboard our vessel and prepared for transport."

"We are prepared to recieve him," acknowledged Keel. Suhak nodded once in his Vulcan fashion.

"Until we speak again, Captain Keel." And the transmission ended.

Picard found himself in the transporter room once again, this time awaiting the arrival of Dr. Sorel. He transported aboard with one large cylindrical container which was about four meters in height. "Ah, my, er, experiment samples," he said in reply to Picards quizzical look. He was an old man, with greying hair, and a few wrinkles already showing on his skin. He still stood stiffly, though, and performed all his actions with austerity, and an almost military-like discipline. He must have been hundreds of years old, Picard guessed, and yet he seemed fit and strong.

"Welcome to the Stargazer, doctor," said Picard, extending his hand. Sorel took it awkwardly and shook twice.

"Thank you," he said uncertainly.

"I'll have those samples delivered to your quarters," said Picard, eyeing the container warily.

"It would be better if they were delivered to the lab instead," interjected Sorel. "That is, er, if I can have a lab, to continue my work, I have so much to do, and didn't want this seminar to, interrupt my experiments."

"Of course," replied Picard, "I think we can arrange something that will suit your needs."

"Excellent!" Sorel seemed pleased.

It was odd, thought Picard as he led Sorel to his quarters, that a Vulcan should display enthusiasm so easily, or openly. He wisely chose not to comment, and instead discussed the seminar details with Sorel.

"Yes, I plan to hold an informal session in your mess hall. Just to answer a few questions."

"There should not be any problem in arranging that."

Picard was lost in his thoughts. There was the warp core realignment that had to be performed before they left the sector. Khalid would have to take care of that project. Then there was the issue of Ensign Martinez, who wanted to take on bigger and riskier missions. Well, thought Picard, aboard the Stargazer she would get her chance, and probably sooner than later. Dr. Sorel's container would have to pass de-contamination protocols before Picard allowed it on the ship. Keel had wanted a report on the weapons efficiency of the ship...

...Picard almost didn't notice as the turbolift doors opened before him and Beverly Crusher walked out, almost stumbling into him.

"Oh, Commader Picard," she said, laughing in surprise.

"Please, Jean-Luc," he said, smiling awkwardly.

"Jean-Luc," she tested the name on her tongue, "Jean-Luc. It has a nice sound." -- And then -- "Is he aboard?"

"Doctor Sorel? Yes, I just showed him to his quarters. He will be preparing for his seminar, and also continuing an ongoing experiment, pending my approval of his, er, samples."

Beverly's eyes widened.

"He will be conducting his experiments here?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," Picard nodded. He didn't seem to understand her awe.

"I'm so anxious to meet him," Beverly confided, letting her enthusiasm show. She unconsciously touched his arm, and gave him a radiant smile. "Do you think he'll allow me to view his experiment?" she asked in a hushed undertone.

Picard shrugged. "It will be in one of our science labs. I am sure that doctor Sorel will not mind having an audience."

"Oh, wonderful."

It was in the evening, at 1900 hours, that Dr. Sorel's seminar was scheduled. The interested parties assembled in the mess hall and eagerly awaited the doctors arrival. There were drinks being passed around as they waited, and the general buzz of conversation filled the large room.

Keel was present for a brief while, to share a drink with Jack and Picard. Lieutenant Jack Crusher seemed to have adapted to his duties on the Stargazer exceptionally well in only a few days.

"Jean-Luc, I have not told you about how Jack saved my life on Rigel IV," Keel was saying. The three men sat around a table that was next to a window which showed impatient stars flying past.

"We were on an away mission, and there were some cliffs that were ahead of us," Keel continued "There was a sensor glitch in my tricorder, and I miscalculated the distance. We could not judge from sight becuase of the thick undergrowth and vegetation. We literally had to hack our way through it. But eventually we hacked our way right into thin air. We all fell."

Keel raised his glass of synth-ale to his lips and drank, vividly remembering the incident he was relating. "I can assure you, Jean-Luc, falling from a cliff a few kilometers high into a ravine is not very good for your nerves."

Picard smiled. "How did you manage to survive that fall?"

"I was terrified, as I looked down all I could see was this cloudy mist. So we could not see the bottom. What would we hit, water or hard rock? Would we even survive the fall? And all around me I could hear the screams of my men. And then, just as suddenly as we had all fallen, we found ourselves tumbling over each other on the floor of the transporter pads aboard the USS Ganges, and Jack here laughing his head off at the sight."

Jack grinned at the memory. "You must admit, Walker," he said, "you did make quite a sight."

"Indeed we did. Indeed we did."

"May I join you, or is this strictly officer-talk?" Beverly had arrived at their table, and now stood before them with the question. They made room for her, and Keel pulled an empty chair from a neighbouring table.

"This doctor Sorel," asked Picard, "how is it that he is so celebrated, not only in the Federation, but also on Vulcan and the other non-aligned worlds?"

"He is responsible for numerous breakthroughs that have allowed medical science to jump forward by leaps and bounds, and all within just the last few years," Beverly answered, "the Teralian plague on Geyvan V was thought to be incurable. Until Dr. Sorel synthesized a neutralizer for it."

"I have heard about that plague," said Keel, "tens of thousands of people perished from it."

Beverly nodded. "And the neural stimulator GH-Symorphidel, he developed it."

"Indeed," remarked Picard, nodding.

"Not to mention his papers on amino-acid recombination."

"What breakthrough was that?" asked Jack.

"None, at the moment. But the research is continuing, and you can be sure we will hear about it sooner or later."

The room hushed as Dr. Sorel walked in, holding a test-tube in one hand. He had changed his clothes from when Picard had last seen him, and now he wore a light brown tunic which carried the unique fashion and symbols of the Vulcan homeworld.

"Patriotic," murmured Picard to Keel, as they turned direction to face Sorel.

Sorel walked to the center of the room, where he was surrounded by admiring people, and looked around at the faces in silence. He nodded, as if in approval. And then he said, "please, sit."

"I understand that there are a few questions regarding my recent papers," he continued, as everyone took their seats again, "and I am here to address them."

The first man to ask a question was a young medical assistant. "Doctor, what is the incubation period of the Horatha virus, that you discovered on Gerdan Prime, and is there a cure for it yet?"

"An excellent question," Sorel nodded. Picard, from his seat, again sensed that level of emotion from Sorel, that he found very unusual in a Vulcan. And was that just a hint of a smile? T'Pau smiled occasionally, Picard noted, but she always did it voluntarily, in controlled situations, when she demanded it. Sorel seemed to have smiled in response to the obvious adoration of his scientific prowess. Picard shook his head, dimissing the thought from his mind, and focused on his drink instead.

The question-and-answer session continued for well over an hour. Keel and Jack had left the mess hall, to attend to duties. And various other officers had arrived or departed. But Sorel continued on ceaselessly, and Beverly was at attention the entire time, as were most of the rest of the audience. Picard sat stirring his fifth drink with his forefinger, lazily watching the light purple liquid swirl around in the glass, while Sorel's voice droned on in the background.

Eventually the question-and-answer session came to an end. Sorel held up his hand to indicate that he had an important accouncement to make. A hushed silence fell.

"And now, I would like to informally disseminate the results of my latest findings. The command of this vessel has been kind enough to afford me the use of one of their science labs, and I have been conducting one of my experiments here. As a test. And what I have found, will change medical science forever."

Beverly leaned forward in her chair, straining to hear every word. Picard looked up from his drink and saw Sorel standing tensely, clutching the test-tube to his chest, almost swaying on his feet.

"I have recreated the origin of life, in a laboratory," Sorel proclaimed dramatically. "I hold here, in my hand" -- and he held up the test-tube for everyone to see -- "the beginning of a new life. I have created life in the laboratory, out of mere amino-acids, and I have duplicated the procedure on the surface of a planet, and on three vessels, the Stargazer being the latest one."

A stunned silence fell. Picard could hear his own breathing. He looked curiously at Sorel and his audience. The seconds passed as the full implications of his statement sunk in, and then everyone burst out at once with excited questions, and comments. Beverly turned to Picard, eyes shining with excitement and her hands trembling slightly.

"What do you think of that?" she asked, searching him for an opinion, for a rebuttal, for something to tell her that this scientist was not correct.

"I don't know," replied Picard. "It is a great claim, no doubt, but if he lives up to his reputation, then perhaps, he may have done it."

She nodded and a smile illuminated her face.

"I must see it, to believe it," she offered.

"Oh, I am fairly sure he will be demonstrating his latest findings," replied Picard, returning his gaze to Sorel, who now stood amidst a sea of enthusiastic admirers, standing and calling to him to ask a question or to say a word or praise, their hands raised to him like some ancient popular icon or celebrity. Picard finished his drink. He certainly does enjoy the attention, thought Picard. Mighty odd for a Vulcan.

As Picard had predicted, Dr. Sorel gave a demonstration of his work in the science lab the next day. It was crowded in the lab, with scarcely enough room to stand. Word about his startling discovery had gone around the ship, so that now even cursory observers were present, to see what Dr. Sorel had discovered, and how it was possible for him to achieve this almost impossible claim.

Dr. Sorel worked behind a plexiglass shield, covered in a protective white laboratory uniform. He was placing test-tubes of amino acids into what looked like an oven. Carefully securing the hatch door of the oven, he turned to a computer console and began entering sets of data. This took a while, and several of the audience fidgeted uncomfortably while Dr. Sorel entered the correct data. Then, he initiated the experiment, and brought up a holographic screen for everyone to view the variables as the experiment progressed.

The holoscreen showed the chemical composition of the contents of all the test tubes, and as they were bombarded by various radiation levels, alpha and gamma particles, neutrinos, and protons, their atomic and molecular makeup shifted, and eventually changed. The audience watched with bated breath as the amino acids at first did nothing, but then began to move, and then eventually combined together to form the first protein. Protein synthesis occurred shortly afterwards, and the eventual result was a single-celled organism, an amoeba.

After characterization and verification, the group in the science lab stood stunned. And then clapped. And then shouted. Dr. Sorel, standing on the other side of the plexiglass, standing solitary, beamed, and bowed in appreciation.

On the bridge, Keel and Picard heard the news.

"Well Picard, what do you make of that?" asked Keel, rather uninterested in the entire affair.

"A scientific discovery of great importance, made aboard the Stargazer," replied Picard evenly. Keel had stood up from the Captain's chair, and now he turned to Picard with a lopsided grin.

"Indeed. Perhaps the Stargazer might get honorary mention in the Starfleet Medical Journals," he joked.

"The concept is dangerous." It was Do-reth Sainor who had spoken. His voice was quiet, but filled with a sense of warning.

"Dangerous? In what way?" asked Picard.

"Dr. Sorel has found the trigger to create life. It is scientific, like everything else we have discovered. Once you see it, there is no mystery. But there is danger in it. Grave danger, if we do not understand what we have discovered."

"And you do not think that Dr. Sorel understands the origins of life?" asked Keel.

"He doesn't even know what he has discovered," Sainor's voice sounded cold, and filled with dread. Visions of impending death leaped up in Picards mind. He dismissed them with a force of will.

"Do you mean dangers like the eugenics wars?" asked Picard.

"Something like that," Sainor nodded, and then returned to his work. Picard and Keel shot each other glances, and then both shrugged.

"Captain!" T'Pau reported suddenly and urgently. "A Cardassian warhip has just dropped out of high warp, one hundred thousand kilometers astern."

Keel swung around. "Shields Up! Red Alert!" he ordered. And then, "On viewscreen"

The viewscreen blurred and then an image of a long rust-colored Cardassian warship came on. Keel growled.

"What the hell do they want?" he snapped.

"They are hailing us," reported T'Pau.

"Lets hear what they have to say," said Keel, walking closer towards the viewscreen. The image of the warhip vanished and was replaced by a stern looking Cardassian in full military garb.

"I am Gul Du Par," he rumbled in a deep tone, "of the Cardassian Obsidion Order. I demand you lower your shields immediately!"

"I am Walker Keel, Captain of the Stargazer," returned Keel, equally stern. "I have no intention of lowering my shields, until you give me a proper explanation for your presence here."

"Argh," Gul Du Par seemed impatient. "Do you realize the firepower I command here, Captain? It would be a shame to plunge our two worlds into a war over this simple matter."

"Simple matter of what?"

"You are protecting a Vulcan scientist."

"He has committed no crimes against your Government. What would you want with him?"

"It has come to our attention that he has perfected a weapon of mass destruction. We are here to ensure that he, or anyone else, does not use this weapon upon the Sovereign people of Cardassia."

"There is no weapon, Gul Du Par--" began Keel, but Gul Du Par cut him off.

"If you do not lower your shields immediately, I will be forced to fire upon you."

"Do you intend to board my ship?"

"We intend to neutralize the threat." The transmission ended abruptly.

Keel turned to T'Pau urgently. "Status," he demanded.

"They are powering their forward weapons batteries. Looks like they are preparing to fire."

"Damn!" cried Keel. "Back us off, one half impulse. I want to put some distance between us. Charge phasor banks. Load photon torpedoes. I wish we didn't have to engage them like this. Damn!"

Picard came to Keel's side. "I've scanned their systems, sir," he reported. "They have significantly more firepower than us. They could cripple us, even destroy us."

Keel nodded. He made quick calculations in his mind. Even as he did so he heard T'Pau's latest report : "They are firing."

An instant later the ship rocked as a volley of Cardassian fire was released against it. Sheilds held, but dropped considerably. There was a plasma fire in engineering. And they had lost warp power.

"Report," cried Keel, through the din of the several alarms going off all at once.

"Casualties on decks eleven, seven, and two," reported T'Pau, "Engineering has the fire under control, but the warp core is offline. We have impulse power only."

"Photon Torpedoes!" yelled Keel, "Full spread. Fire!"

"Torpedoes away!" Michiko Hatta, who was manning the weapons station, fired. Moments later, reports came in.

"Direct hit, no damage to the Cardassian ship."

"Helm, bring us about. I want to be facing these bastards!"

"Aye sir!"

"Sir!" It was T'Pau, with another report.

"Please give me good news," said Keel.

"Two more Cardassian ships have dropped out of warp. They are taking up formation with the lead ship."

Keel gritted his teeth. The situation was not improving. "Engineering," he roared, "I need status on warp power!"

Khalid's harried voice came over the comm system. "We can have warp power in two, maybe three hours, sir, no sooner!"

"We don't have two hours, Mr. Khalid," Keel said sadly, and then, turning to the bridge crew, "Suggestions!"

Picard had just completed putting out a fire that had erupted at a security console. The initial shock of the impact had subsided, and most of the alarms had disappeared, the problems either fixed, or postponed until repairs could be made.

"We need a hiding place, until our warp core is back online," suggested Michiko Hatta.

"T'Pau, are there any anomalies in the vicinity that are capable of masking our signature?" asked Keel.

"Scanning," silence followed as T'Pau performed her scans. And then,

"yes, there is a class four nebula that would effectively render us invisible to sensors. It is unstable, however, with pockets of very volatile tetrion gas."

"If tetrion gas is ignited. . ." began T'Pau.

"It releases an explosive amount of energy, more than sufficient to destroy a starship," completed Do-reth.

"Thank you Mr. Sainor," said Keel, turning back to the viewscreen. "Now we have just one problem. How to get past those Cardassian warships."

T'Pau reported another transmission: "Gul Du Par, sir."

"Put him through," said Keel with a sigh.

Du Par face on the large viewscreen seemed agitated. "You have witnessed what only one of our warships could do, Captain Keel. Your own scanners should tell you that there are three Cardassian warships facing you. Surrender now, and save yourself the anguish of mourning over any of your crew members' untimely death."

"Viewscreen Off!" cried Keel. The image of Du Par's face seemed astonished, and then was abruptly cut off.

Keel swung around to face Picard. "We need a diversion," he said quickly, "and there isn't much time."

"A matter, anti-matter explosion would cause them to lose their sights on us," suggested Picard. "but the only known method of creating such a reaction is by overloading the warp core drive,"

"Then the only alternative is to dump the core," said Keel. "If we dump the core, we will not have warp power," warned Michiko Hatta, from her weapons console.

T'Pau's voice interrupted them all with the latest status report: "Lead ship is charging weapons."

Keel took a seat. "Engineering, this is the bridge. Mr. Khalid, prepare to dump the warp core."

"What!?" Khalid sounded not only astonished, but mildly irritated. After all, he was expending all his energies on getting the thing repaired.

"Program a warp core overload and dump the core immediately. We want to create a matter anti-matter explosion to keep those Cardassian's busy while we make our way to the nebula." And then to helm "Helm, set a course to the nebula at full impulse. Prepare to engage on my mark. We want to get there as fast as possible, and preferably without being detected."

"Sir, the two accompanying Cardassian ships are charging weapons," said T'Pau. "Sir, the lead ship is firing!"

Everything happened at once. Khalid's voice came over the comm system, informing the bridge crew that the core had been dumped and was going to be at a critical stage in less than three seconds. Keel ordered helm to engage at full impulse. They began to move, but were caught by the fire from Du Par's ship. Stargazer lost navigational control and spun uncontrollably for a few wild seconds before the helmsman was able to steer her again. By that time the warp core behind them had overloaded and engulfed the accompanying two Cardassian warships in it's flames. The lead ship, which had laid in a pursuit course for the Stargazer, had managed to escape the brunt of the warp core explosion, and suffered only minimal damage. It limped after the Stargazer for a while, but after the Stargazer entered the nebula, it took up position just outside, and waited.

Keel had convened a meeting of the senior staff in the conference room. Picard, Michiko Hatta, Khalid, T'Pau, and Sanior were all present. Keel was pacing the room in front of his seat at the head of the table. Finally he stopped and faced the table.

"Repairs are coming along," he said in a neutral voice. "But without the warp core, we are not going anywhere. And there is a Cardassian warship out there that is intent on finding us. They are carrying out their repairs as well, and they do have a warp core."

He looked around at everyone solemnly. "If we are to get out of here, we need to deal with Gul Du Par," he said finally.

"I wonder why Gul Du Par thought that Dr. Sorel was developing a weapon," said Picard, "I attended his informal seminar and question answer session, and while his discovery seemed fascinating from a medical point of view, I fail to see how it could be used for any destructive purpose."

"Maybe there is a purpose," said T'Pau, "and we are not aware of it."

"And Du Par is?" questioned Keel, skeptically, "could he have known about Sorel's discovery before we did? Before Sorel announced it, formally, here?"

"Perhaps, these are questions which Dr. Sorel is best qualified to answer," said Sainor.

"Yes, I want to talk to Sorel. Get him in here."

When Dr. Sorel arrived, he walked into the room with an air of something more than pride. Picard, who had earlier sensed a level of emotion from the Vulcan doctor, now felt it ever more strongly. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Dr. Sorel stood behind the seat that he was offered, and smiled openly at everyone.

T'Pau frowned.

"Dr. Sorel," began Keel, "you are aware of our current predicament, I assume?"

"Yes, Captain, your security officer was kind enough to brief me on the situation. Most, unfortunate."

"Indeed," replied Keel wryly, "considering that you are the cause of Gul Du Par's apparent deep concern for his people and their homeworld. Are his claims substantiated?"

At this Sorel laughed outright. He then turned to Picard. "Well, what do you think, Mr. Picard? You have been obviously aware of my accomplishments since I came on board."

Picard nodded. "I have. And I have also seen some rather unusual behaviour, for a Vulcan."

"Oh?"

"The tendency of emotional expression."

This silenced him. He regained his former austere expression, and stood as if at alert, facing forward, seeing through the bulkheads and into outer space. T'Pau was seated at the table opposite him. She regarded him curiously.

"I still need an answer," said Keel, "If you are with-holding any knowledge about your discovery from us, we need to know it now." Sorel turned to Keel with a sneer.

"You would not know how to comprehend that knowledge," he snarled.

"I shall be the one to decide that!" snapped Keel.

"Captain," It was T'Pau, "he is not forthcoming. He will not divulge any information about his discovery."

"You are correct, Lieutenant Commander," said Sorel stiffly.

"Then permit me to perform a mind-meld with him," said T'Pau, her eyes fixed upon Sorel. Taken aback by this sudden and unexpected suggestion, Sorels mouth dropped open. He turned to Keel.

"You cannot allow this!" he cried. "It violates my personal right to privacy."

"Consider your rights hereby nullified," said Keel casually, and with a nod to T'Pau, "you may proceed."

As she stepped around the table, Sorel turned around, looking for an escape. Hastings and Picard were by his side in an instant, holding him by the arms.

"I will not co-operate," Sorel yelled in a high shrill voice, "you cannot make me! I will not!"

T'Pau set her teeth, and stood at arms length from the struggling Sorel. She held out her hand, and applied two fingers to his temples, her thumb resting on his cheekbone.

"My mind, to your mind," she began in a quiet determined voice. His struggling ceased, and he stood limp and lifeless in Picard's and Hastings' grip. "My thoughts, to your thoughts..."

T'Pau closed her eyes and concentrated as the mind-meld was initiated and performed. For several minutes both Sorel and T'Pau stood silently, an unknown war waging in their minds, while the rest of the senior staff watched helplessly in silence. Finally, after what seemed like hours, T'Pau stirred, and then slowly lowered her hand from Sorel's face.

Sorel turned aside and covered his face with his hand briefly. He looked ghastly pale. He could not stand upright. He crouched like an aged man. And he peered out from small, suspicious eyes.

T'Pau stepped back, her face a mask. Keel stood eagearly waiting for her report, but did not say a word.

"There is much that he was concealing," she began, after returning to her seat. "First, he is not Dr. Sorel. He is in actual fact a Romulan. He assumed the identity of Dr. Sorel in order to be able to continue some experiments that he had begun covertly several years ago. He is a scientist, yes, but he builds weapons. Weapons of mass destruction."

"So there was truth in Du Par's claim," said Keel.

"Du Par is a fool!" Sorel spat out viciously, still crouching. "He will never get his hands on the device or the protocol!"

"What device? What protocol?"

T'Pau answered. "The 'doctor' is referring to a device that he was working on which would bring the death rate to a new level of definition. Planet-wide annihilation. This device releases enormous amounts of energy. He has been researching this weapon for several years. During that time, he has not come close to perfecting it. Until he chanced upon Dr. Sorel and his work. Dr. Sorel had the right machinery that would enable this scientist to further his own research into his weapon, and perfect it. He used some of Sorel's research as well as his laboratory and equipment."

"Where is the real Dr. Sorel?" questioned Keel pointedly.

"He is dead," replied T'Pau. "This scientist killed him before he returned to Vulcan from Gerdan Prime. It was there that they met, while Dr. Sorel was researching a virus. From Gerdan Prime, this man assumed the identity of Dr. Sorel, travelled back to Vulcan, and subsequently boarded the Dehnor, and came aboard the Stargazer."

"What is your real name?" asked Picard.

"My name is not important. My associates refer to me as 'Noth'," answered "Dr. Sorel" resignedly.

"Why?" questioned Picard, "Why go to all the trouble to impersonate a Vulcan scientist, even carry out his research?"

T'Pau answered: "He required a delivery mechanism, and an announcement technique. He was planning to sell the weapon to the Klingons, once it was completed. He knew he was close. His plan was to make the announcement very publicly aboard the Stargazer, so that the relevant Klingon parties would be informed, and would rendez-vous with him at some time and place, and payment would be made in exchange for the weapon."

"Why make it public? Why not just inform them that it was ready and make the exchange covertly?"

"Because he needed security, protection. He knew that the men he dealt with would much rather kill him than pay him. Being in the guise of a famous medical scientist afforded him some degree of protection from his clients."

"So where does Du Par fit in all this?"

"Du Par learnt of the entire deal from his intelligence network, and made an offer to buy the weapon from Noth. Noth, however, did not accept the offer. Du Par then determined to destroy Noth and the weapon." "So what is the weapon exactly," asked Michiko, "after all, didn't Noth just demonstrate the creation of an amoeba in the lab?"

T'Pau nodded. "What he concealed, was the massive amounts of energy that were released during the process. He used some very specific samples on board when he conducted his experiment. That is what enabled the 'creation of life'. If he had used ordinary samples, his experiment would have failed. To convert his 'experiment' into a weapon would be a simple matter of concentrating the energy, focusing it into a higher spectrum and directing it at a target. Since Noth did not want anyone aboard the Stargazer to be suspicious, he merely let the energy stream dissipate into space."

Keel said to Hastings. "I want him in the brig. We'll decide what to do with him later." Hastings nodded and led a squirming Noth out of the conference room. Keel turned to Sainor and T'Pau.

"Now there is just the matter of that warship waiting for us out there. Can you duplicate Noth's experiment?"

"If the experiment logs are still intact, we might be able to duplicate it," said Sainor.

"Good, I want you to do it. We are going to need a massive energy burst."

"We are going to destroy the Cardassian ship?" queried Picard.

"No, we are going to outrun it," the smile on Keel's face was contagious.

Several hours later Sainor and T'Pau reported that they had successfully recreated Noth's experiment. They began to direct the energy output to a warp-core-less Engineering, where Khalid re-routed it through several filters and sub-processors, to obtain the right flow rate and flux needed to power the Stargazer. Several minutes later, they were ready.

Aboard the bride, Keel turned to Picard with a bemused smile upon his face. "Well, Jean-Luc," he quizzed, "ever seen a Starship go at warp-speed without a warp drive?"

Picard returned Keel smile. "I have a feeling I am about to," he said.

"Would you like to do the honors?"

"Why, thank you sir. Helm, set course for Federation Starbase zero one seven. Warp factor...warp factor whatever engineering gives you, push her to the limit."

"Aye sir, course laid in," replied the helmsman.

"Engage!"

The flow gates were opened, and the Stargazer began to move, slowly and sluggishly at first, but slowly and gradually picking up speed, until it moved at a faster and faster velocity. Accelaration was gradual and steady. Khalid came on the comm system.

"Captain, I have made some calculations based on the initial flow rate. I can give you warp nine for about four hours based on this."

"Excellent," replied Keel, "that will be more than enough."

Michiko Hatta was at sensors.

"Sir, Gul Du Par's ship is maintaining position outside the nebula," she reported.

"Perfect," purred Keel, "let him wait. We'll be away before he knows it." Seconds later they broke free of the nebula, at warp factor nine. The Cardassian ship managed to swing about, but could not pursue a vessel at high warp without knowing it's destination coordinates.

The Stargazer was gone.

Picard sat in the mess hall, sipping a cup of hot Earl Grey tea. He was studying a pad in the dimly lit room. A few people sat at some of the other tables, conversing in undertones. It was late, and the mess hall was mostly empty.

"May I join you?" It was Beverly. Picard looked up, and then put away his pad.

"Of course," he said, managing a smile. She sat down opposite him.

"I will be leaving when we arrive at the Starbase," she said. "I have a trip planned back to Earth, for leave. And Jack will be able to visit me on his shore leave."

Picard nodded. "Never miss a chance to visit Earth," he said. She agreed, and then said sadly:

"I just didn't know."

"About Dr. Sorel? Yes, we were all quite mistaken about him."

"How could I have been so blind to the truth? I read all his papers, I followed his career, I practically knew the man." She shrugged helplessly. "Only to find out that he was really dead and being impersonated by a weapon-maker," she continued.

Picard nodded. "It is true," he said, "that sometimes we may know a person intimately, only to find out that we're total strangers."

She looked up at that, and a small smile brightened her face. "Or to think that someone is a stranger," she said, "only to find out that you know them intimately..."

The End

"The Illogical Vulcan"
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© Jasjit Singh, April 1999