“You will return the heretics for trial. Your officer will stand trial as well, when we find her.”
Captain Wren Walton stood in the center of the Mackenzie’s bridge, her eyes staring phasers at the Astrid President. “Mr. President, the heretics of whom you speak asked for our help in fear for their lives. Asylum has been granted, and we will process their request with adjudication from our Judge Advocate General team.”
“You dare to challenge us?”
Wren forced herself to remain diplomatic. “There is no challenge here, Mr. President. We are at the mercy of our asylum process. Each individual must be interviewed and their merits evaluated in turn.”
The face of the Astrid president was apoplectic. “How long would this process take, if we dared to even consider accepting your lies?”
She had to force back the beginnings of a smile and she shaped her face with the most sympathetic look she could. “It could take some time. I am sorry. Once an asylum request is made, the system that administrates it takes over.”
“You cannot expect us to allow you to leave our sector with our people.”
“No, we’ll remain here.” Walton paused, watching the president and his gathered cabinet. She chose her words carefully. “There is the matter of which we brought Peter Joura here in the first place. The matter of Astridina V and Creator.”
He huffed. “We do not believe Creator has been found. It is an old tale, steeped in lore and legend.”
Wren replied, “We saw him with our own eyes, Mr. President. We’re not sure of the entirety of the truth of his statements or his warnings. I intend to order Captain Park and her team to investigate further with Creator himself.” She added, “We will send you all the data we have. There is one more thing.”
“There is always one more thing with you people. Yes, what is it?”
“In the data we’re sending you, there is something you need your scientists to examine. We believe that within the next 20 years, Astridina V will collide with Astridina III. Our team has run the scenario through the computer and manually plotted it out.”
The president’s eyes widened just enough to give Walton satisfaction that something had finally shaken the man. It didn’t last long. The brows furrowed, and his face tightened. “Send your data. We will review it to reveal your lies.”
“And our officer?”
A scoff. “We will discuss our decision on their fate.” The channel clicked off.
Wren turned to the bridge. “I need a full tactical workup on their defense platforms, weapons systems, and planetary shields. Get me Captain Park. We need better answers than we’ve been getting.”
